The Prelude
by tweetybaby2
Summary: A 4 years old Haruno Sakura ends up in the death note world after an incident. How does this effect L, Matt, Mello, Near and BB's childhoods when she enters Wammy's? "Hey! Strawberry panties girl!" Death Note Naruto crossover Pairings; SakuraxEveryone
1. The Northern Lights?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Death Note

(-)

The sun, signaling another wonderful day in Konoha, shun through the windows of a four year old girl with bright pink hair and dazzling green eyes. She, of course, grumbled and tried to roll away from the pesky light that dared disturb her wonderful dreams in la la land.

THUMP

"Ack" Was the noise that came out of Haruno Sakura when she'd fallen out of her bed

She grumbled, and then proceeded to rub the sleepiness out of her eyes, looking at her calendar

She grinned wildly and got up to clumsily bolt into her bathroom, getting entangled in her blankets and stumbling on the way.

She tossed her clothes about and hopped into the shower. Finishing up, she brushed her teeth and then, combed her short, shoulder length pink locks. She then topped her head with her favorite red ribbon given to her by her new best friend, Ino. She wore a bright red dress with a petticoat underneath to make it sway in the wind and blue ninja sandals.

"Alright! Time to meet up with Ino chan!" She said, rushing down the flight of stairs, giving a quick wave to her mother. She was just about to run out the door when-

GRABS

THUMP

"OOF!"

DRAGS~S

"Don't even think about it, you haven't eaten breakfast yet" Came the words of her mother

"What?! I'm not even hungry!" Sakura whined in protest

"It's my responsibility as a mother to feed you, otherwise, you'd have no meat on your bones when I cook you in the oven and feed you to the boogeyman" Her mother said with malicious eyes and a twisted grin

"WHAT?!" Cried Sakura as she dug her nails into wall to slow the process of reaching the kitchen

"NO~O!"

(-)

"Man, why does mom always have to pick on me?" Sakura asked herself, as she waited in a park for her friend Ino. They had promised to play together that day, after all. She was, however, late.

Sakura sighed and sat on the floor. It had only been a couple of minutes, but, being the child that she was, it felt like forever.

Her eyes wandered around the park, and she soon found something that caught her eye. Some kids were picking on a boy with spiky blonde hair and blue eyes. He was obviously outnumbered, and there was no way he'd win. He was trying however

Sakura's breath hitched. They'd just kicked him down to the floor, and they were currently holding him down and kicking him. She felt like crying, it was scary

'_**SHANNARO! What the hell are they picking on him for?! Four against one is so unfair!'**_ Screamed Inner Sakura

Sakura silently agreed, but dared not help, in fear of getting picked on herself

'_**I can take them! I can take them all!'**_ Screamed Inner Sakura once again, dripping with confidence

She really did want to help him, though…

**FLASHBACK **

"_Sakura chan, you should be a lot more confident. It's why you get picked on so often, since they know you won't do anything back and you'll just cry like you always do." Ino lectured_

_SNIFF, SNIFF_

"_But-hic-m-my forehead-sniff-it's huge!" Sakura whined_

_Ino sighed_

"_You know, you're actually pretty cute. No matter what, they'll always find a reason for picking on you. You can't keep being a crybaby over every little thing they tell you. Have more confidence in yourself. If there's something you want to say or do, don't chicken out of it! Or else, you'll just be a COWARD!"_

**END FLASHBACK**

'I-I DON'T WANNA BE A COWARD!' Sakura screamed in her mind angrily, wiping the small droplets of tears that had gathered in the corners of her eyes. After all, she knew what it felt like to be picked on, maybe not physically, but mentally

'_**HELL YEAH! Now let's go kick some ass!' **_Screamed Inner Sakura

**NARUTO POV**

I had done it again. I had gotten myself into a bit of a situation again. I had placed a whoopee cushion under the wrong kid, and who knew that the wrong kid had friends? Honestly, it wasn't his fault they couldn't take a joke! And it was only because they didn't want to play with me again; they're always excluding me from everything! And I bet it was because of those stupid adults again. They had told their kids not to play with me, I just know it!

I smirked

There's no way I'M going down without a fight!

I swung a fist, and felt the contact. However, I didn't get to enjoy the victory for long, as someone grabbed my legs, giving away my balance. I fell, and scraped my chin. It stung, but not as much as the kicks and punches I was receiving from one kid while the other three grabbed my arms and legs to hold me down.

'Pathetic, they're my age! I should be able to take them on!' Naruto thought as he struggled in their grip

'It's just not fair' I thought as angry tears started to gather at the corners of my eyes as I watched the kid stand and begin to kick my side.

"This is what you get for messing with me you idiot!" Said the kid with a wide grin on his face as the others laughed

To my shock, someone came literally flying in, kicking him in the head quite hard.

His bodies skidded a bit, and in his place stood a girl with short pink hair with a pretty red dress fluttering in the wind and, were those strawberry panties he saw?

I blushed and ogled her majestic form, a determined look in her eyes

"And THAT'S what you get for fighting dirty, idiot!" She snapped

"Who the hell are you?!" One of the kids still holding him down asked

"Haruno Sakura, age four and the person that's going to **Kick. Your. Asses!" **The girl named 'Sakura' said as she pointed a finger at the group

'I think I'm in love' I thought

**NORMAL POV**

Sakura was currently freaking out; she wished she were as sure as she sounded. She then glanced at the boy on the ground and noticed he was staring at her.

'Oh crap, he thinks I'm his hero.' Sakura thought

'_**HELL YEAH! I've come to save the day! Watch my mad moves in action!'**_ thought inner Sakura

Sakura grinned with a hardened resolve, she wasn't sure of what she could do, but she'd do her best!

"CHAAA!" Came Sakura's battle scream

'No turning back now' She thought as her punch landed on some guys face.

"Get her!" Said the others as they pounced off Naruto and onto her

Naruto instantly mobilized and went to assist her. Of course, being the terrible fighter that she was, she instantly got slammed into the floor. Right before a kid had the chance to punch her face, someone punched him

"When I said to have a little more courage, didn't mean go and pick a fight with the first group of boys you found!" A girl disciplined her

"Ino chan!" Sakura called out in joy

The boy on top of Sakura jumped off her just in time to dodge Ino's punch

Sakura jumped to her feet and began fighting once again

"Alright, who's going to come next, the Hokage!?" Said the boy that had jumped off Sakura, angered by so many intervening in their fight that didn't involve them

There were now three boys against them, the boy Sakura had kicked upon her entrance mysteriously gone

'_**Ch! Coward…'**_ Thought Inner Sakura

(-)

Apparently, that boy wasn't a coward. After somehow defeating the other three, Sakura now stood, muddy and bruised, in front of three genin.

The boy had brought his and two of others, older brothers.

"Okay, now this is really low" Sakura stated, Ino nodding her head in agreement, a little less muddy than Sakura

Naruto however…

"Come on! I can take you all on!! Bring it on you weak bastards!"

The three genin were instantly offended, and Ino screamed "RUN!" as she dropped the smoke bombs she'd brought to show Sakura that evening

She took off, Sakura behind her. Of course, Naruto, being an idiot, decided to stay behind. Sakura went back and dragged him along. She'd gotten a bit separated from Ino because of this, and so she ran her own way.

She soon reached the Konoha main gates, the guards coming into view

'They'll help!' Sakura thought as she neared them. She didn't quite get there, however, before she was yanked by the hair by one of the genin.

"Ouch! Let me go!" Sakura screamed in protest

"That's the girl that kicked me!" Said the spoiled little runt

"Say you're sorry!" He added

"Like hell!" She screamed

"Leave Sakura chan alone, you bastards!" Screamed Naruto, struggling in the grasp of the others

'Sakura chan?' Sakura thought, wondering why he was addressing her so informally

"Hey, cut that out you kids!" Screamed the guards, running towards them

The one currently grasping her hair let her go instantly.

"Let's get out of here!" One screamed as they scampered away

"Are you okay, miss?" One asked Sakura

Yeah, Sakura said, caressing her hair after its brutal treatment

The guards then turned their attention to Naruto

"Why am I not surprised it's you again, Naruto?" Screamed one with a bandage over his nose

They then entered an argument going along the lines of

"They started it!" and "This is the third time this week"

Sakura, however, wasn't paying very close attention to this conversation as she continued to run her fingers through her hair, finding something missing in the short locks

Realization donned on her like a strike of lightening

'My ribbon!' She thought

She turned her head above and saw it flying high in the wind

Her eyes widened as she bolted up and chased the dancing ribbon out the Konoha gates and into the woods

'It must have fallen out when that genin grabbed my hair!' She thought, running as fast as she could to catch it

If she'd been paying attention, she would've heard the pitter patter of small footsteps following not so far behind her.

'Dumb forehead girl! Where does she think she's going?!' Thought the young girl behind her, trying yet failing to catch up to the girl

(-)

"I know it fell somewhere around here" Thought Sakura as she searched through the bushes

She was crouched down on all fours trying to catch a glimpse of her red cloth.

What she found, however, was a foot, connected to a leg, connected to a torso, connected to the arms and head of the person that had her ribbon.

"Looking for this?" The person asked with a grin

Sakura beamed, jumped up and grabbed her ribbon from the hands of the person holding it.

"Thank you so much!" Sakura said to the person with a smile

"I don't want your thanks, I want your money. Do you have any?" The man asked

Sakura shook her head

"No, but I found this flower in the bushes over there if you want it" Sakura said, holding out a yellow daffodil.

"Doesn't it look pretty? It's shaped like a star and the center is-

SMACK

She didn't get to finish her sentence as her pretty flower was smacked out of her hands.

"Do you take me for a fool?! Here I caught your precious ribbon and all I get in return is some filthy plant?!" He screamed at her

She stumbled back and fell

'S-scary' She thought, staring up at the man, now towering up above her

She now took the time to take in his appearance. He was extremely tall, and-

'Extremely ugly' Thought Inner Sakura

To her dismay, she found a headband on his forehead with a foreign symbol on it. That, however, was not the bad part. The bad part was the deep gash running across it. Now, Sakura was pretty bright for her age. She was proud to say she was the most well known four year old in the Konoha library. She always checked out books, and she'd memorized most of it, so she knew exactly what that deep gash on his forehead protector meant

"Missing nin…" She uttered

The man smirked "How about I hold ya in for hostage money? I bet I could buy myself a couple of cups of sake with it at least. What do you say? You wanna make me some extra cash?"

Sakura smiled nervously

"I hear the ichiraku ramen stand is a bit short on help. I hear the pay's good too and-EEK!" Sakura said as his large hand reached out and tormented her poor pink locks of hair for the second time that day.

"I don't think so" Said the man as he looked into her eyes full of fear.

Tears leaked out of Sakura's eyes as she took in the situation. She wasn't ever going to see Konoha, or her mom, or even the hokage! She was too young to die! She had so much more to do! She still had yet to accomplish what everyone secretly fantasized about! Those deep, dark desires that lurked in everyone's hearts, she had to do it at least once!

Of course, she was talking about tasting the different sweets of the world! Then, and only then, could she die in peace.

She close her eyes tightly, thick tears rolling down her face

"Crybaby!" Screamed a voice as a small figure leapt out and bit down on the hand holding Sakura's hair

Her eyes snapped open, and she saw-

"Ino chan!"

The man yelled as he let go of Sakura's hair.

"Let go you scrawny little bitch!" Came the rough voice of the man

Ino's teeth remained firmly pressed on the man arm. She wouldn't, no, couldn't let go. She knew he'd attack them both if she did. She had to stall for time. The gates guards had to have noticed them exiting the gates. They'd surely come after them, right?

(-)

Sakura watched as the man beat on her constantly. She wanted to help, she really did, but she was no match for a missing nin. Didn't his punches hurt Ino? Wasn't it painful? Why was she trying so hard? It was just like the boy earlier. Why was she the only one that was weak? Why couldn't she fight too? Even when trying to save the boy, she had to get Ino's help.

Tears streamed down her face

'Coward' replayed in her mind several times as she watched her friend get beaten before her very eyes. Each second passed by so agonizingly slow

While in reality, Ino had only just bitten the man a couple seconds ago

Of course, time was not being taken into account as Sakura was tormented by her inner turmoil of indecision.

Sakura closed her eyes tightly; she didn't want to see her friend get hurt anymore!

"**STO~OP!!!"** Sakura screamed in pain and anguish, running towards her dear friend

"Don't hurt her anymore! She's my precious friend!!" Sakura screamed at the man. She wasn't sure of what she could do, but just because she knew she couldn't win, knew the differences in power, it just didn't make it right to give up and watch as her friend took a beating for her! She didn't want to be protected anymore!

She jumped in the air when she was close enough to pounce on the man

He smirked, ready to punch her as Ino accidently let go of him to gap at her crybaby friend.

Just as he was about ready to attack her, a bright light emitted from Sakura's small form engulfed him.

Sakura, the man, and Ino were soon found falling in a twinkling green light, reminding Sakura of a picture of the northern light she had once seen in a book. She didn't get to admire it for long though, as she noticed the man soon scream as he soon disappeared, lost in endless light. Sakura then noticed Ino to her right, as she drifted away from her. Not wanting to be separated from her friend, she grabbed at her hand, and held onto it tightly

"Sakura chan!" Ino screamed, gripping onto Sakura's hand just as tightly

However, the gravitational pull was different for them both. While Sakura was being pulled to the left, Ino was being pulled to the right

"Don't let go!" Ino said pleadingly, scared with tears streaming down her bruised and battered face

Sakura gripped her hand tighter, however, it was only a matter of time before the pull was able to weaken their grip on one another, and tiny hands slowly slipped from one another. They held on to the last pinky, till they were torn from one another, falling into the abyss

They called one another's names, though the screams soon turned to echoes as they fell farther and farther away from one another.

(-)

One of the Konoha guards chased after the kids who had slipped out the gates while they had been lecturing Naruto. The other, of course, taking care of the gates

"First Naruto, then these girls, this is why I hate kids…" He muttered

He didn't get to complain any further as he noticed a bright light up ahead. He landed on a tree branch

"What the heck was that?" He asked himself

He soon continued towards the light as it began to go out

When he arrived however, he was met with nothing.

He scratched the back of his head "Does this qualify as something I should report to the hokage about?" He asked himself, wondering if he hadn't had enough sleep and scratching the back of his head

(-)

A tall man began to shake the shoulder of our pink haired heroine. She grumbled

"A couple more minutes…" She muttered as she rolled away from the hand

The man sighed and took in her form

She had the strangest pink hair. Was it dyed? No, that'd be ridiculous! What kind of a parent dyes their daughter's hair pink at that age? She was also very muddy, her clothes were a bit torn and she had a couple scrapes and bruises here and there. She looked like a street rat, though very young. It was such a shame to have a kid like her out on the streets already. She was too young to face the cold cruel world. Her eyes were very puffy, an obvious sign she'd been crying a lot. However, he knew better than to get involved with other people's problems. He stood up from his crouched position over the small form of the girl. He, of course, was wearing a long, black jacket, and a matching hat and gloves. He then turned to walk away, only to be stopped by a small hand grabbing his jacket. He looked back, an action he'd immediately regret, as he looked into the face of the angelic little girl. He was in the middle of a forest right now, a place located away from civilization. It was the perfect place his orphanage, which was where he was headed now. His orphanage was located a bit farther ahead and he wondered why any parent in their right mind would lose their child there. It was no place for a child her age, was she really an orphan too?

He sighed, whatever the case may be, he just couldn't leave there and pretend he'd never seen her. He didn't have the heart to tear her hand away and abandon her to her own devices. With that thought in mind, he scooped her up and headed towards his orphanage, he had a gut feeling that he'd come to regret it someday…

(-)

Whammy walked through the gates of his orphanage, and was instantly noticed by the children. In his hands, he carried the small, pink haired girl

Questioning eyes looked his way

'A new genius?' Was the question on everyone's minds. They also took in her battered appearance and instantly began calculating scenarios which could have leaded her up to that state.

Others turned away, figuring their questions would be answered if it were necessary for them to know by Whammy himself. Drawing false conclusions would be a waste of time

(-)

Upon awaking, Sakura noticed several things. First of all, she was in a white room, in a bed, that was not her own. Secondly, she was wearing black sweat pants and a shirt that seemed a tad big for her small frame. Third, she was covered in bandages and last but not least, there was an old man in funny clothes at the foot of her bed staring her down.

She got up and just as she opened her mouth to speak, the man said

"You're in the nurse's office of my orphanage, I found you near here, your clothes are being washed and mended as we speak and food will soon be provided soon. We've also dressed your wounds." He said, reading her mind

'_**Freaky'**_ Inner Sakura thought

She quickly recollected the past events and her eyes widened

She stumbled out of bed and grabbed the mans suit.

"Hey! Hey! Did you find a girl with me? She's my age and has light blonde shoulder length hair and blue eyes! Did you see her? Did you?" Sakura yelled tugging at the old mans suit at each question, hopeful eyes pleading with him.

"No" He regretfully informed her

Tears were now streaming down her face

"She's my friend! She was protecting me! I have to find her!" She screamed, bolting out the door

Whammy sighed; he knew he'd regret bringing her

He looked out the window as clouds began to gather, a storm was coming

(-)

Sakura rushed out the gates and into the woods, pricking her feet here and there as she was barefoot

She ignored it a ran about, calling Ino's name, hoping she would hear her

She finally began seeing a light through the trees

'Konoha?' Sakura thought

Yes, surely they'd help her find Ino. She quickened her pace and burst through the trees, into the light. What she found, was not Konoha, but the edge of a very high cliff. She skidded to a halt, shocked at what she saw

It wasn't Konoha.

Beneath the cliff, a small city with oddly shaped buildings and foreign structures lay. It was huge! The city went as far as the eyes could see and atop the cliff, everything looked so tiny. She then felt a pellet of water fall on her face. She looked up and second pellet followed, along with a third. It was then Sakura noticed the clouds had gotten a lot darker.

It soon began raining and Sakura sunk to the floor.

Where was she? Where was Konoha? And better yet, where was Ino?

Tears began to stream down her face; she wanted to be with her mom. She wanted to go home. She regretted not kissing her goodbye before leaving home that morning; for she wasn't sure if she'd ever get to see her again now.

She brought her knees to herself and cried into them.

"Mom, Ino chan, I want to go home! I'm scared, I'm lost and-sniff-I don't wanna be here anymore!" Sakura cried as the harsh rain beat on her small form

Soon, she couldn't feel the rain hitting her anymore. She looked up, and found that someone was holding an umbrella over her.

"Old man!" She cried as she hugged him tightly and began crying

She was, after all, a child

(-)

Upon arriving back at the orphanage, the man, now identified as Watari had a talk with Sakura

"Haruno Sakura, right? You say you have nowhere to go, so if you'd like, you're welcome to stay in this orphanage."

Sakura looked up "What about my friend though? I don't know where she is! She's probably scared and alone, I have to find her!" Sakura screamed, getting out of her chair. They were currently located in an office, a towel over her form as the one named Watari sat in a chair behind an oak desk

"There, there, sit down. No good will come out of running about aimlessly when you yourself said you don't even know where you are." Watari said. He'd heard the girls' story and figured she was just some abandoned kid in denial. He resisted the urge to shake his head; he'd give her points for her creativity though. The story about getting separated from a friend, however, was plausible

Taking a look into her fiery eyes, he knew he wasn't going to get her to not chase around all of England for her if he didn't give her a good reason not to

He inwardly sighed, signing his fate with the girl.

"Listen, if you stay here long enough, I might help you find this friend you're looking for. There's nothing that goes on in the world that this household is not aware of, so finding your friend should be easy, after a bit of time" he said

Sakura's eyes brightened

"No way! Does this mean you're ninjas? I thought this was an orphanage?" Sakura said

Watari shook his head

"No, we're not ninja's. However, this is no ordinary orphanage; it's a school for the top geniuses of the world. If something comes up pertaining your friend, I'll instantly notify you. However, this will only be done under certain conditions." He stated

Sakura straightened up

"Alright, I'll do anything!" Sakura said

"First, everything you see and hear here is to be kept secret. To the world, this place must remain as an ordinary orphanage. Secondly, please don't cause too much of a ruckus around here" He said, rubbing his temples. How did he get himself into this mess? She wasn't a genius, she shouldn't be here! The other kids would have a fit if they were to ever find this out. He should've dropped her off at some other orphanage. Who cares if she ran away to find her friend and got hit by a bus, raped, kidnapped or killed? It happened every day; he didn't have time to help every kid he found. He then looked up to see her smiling face, a twinkle of happiness in her eyes at finding a friend in this foreign world

His lips began to twitch upwards into a smile, despite his protests, she was contagious.

"Gotcha boss-err-Watari san!" She said, pounding a fist to her chest

"Another thing, you are not to call anyone by their names outside this household, nicknames are used here, usually in the formed of the single letters at the beginning of a persons name such as "A" or "B". For example, yours would be "S". The children here are training to be the best, so you'll find quite the competitive youths residing here, so please be careful." Watari said

"Definitely!" Sakura said

Watari looked at her questionably. She was no ordinary four year old. She was definitely brighter than was normal and she seemed to know a lot about life. She also seemed to understand everything he was saying. Her will power was also something to be admired, she hadn't cried once about the pain in her wounds, yet she'd cry over a lost friend? Normal kids would at least complain about aches and pains, yet she seemed numbed by it

He smiled; there was no doubt in his mind that her stay in the orphanage was going to be an interesting one. He also couldn't wait to see the effect this bright child would have on the kids there. There was strangely something in her that made her an all around lovable person

"One last question, Sakura." Watari said

"Yes?" Sakura replied

"Is that really the color of your hair?"


	2. strawberry's and miscalculations

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Death Note, if I did, there'd be crossovers and Sakura would be paired up with everyone**

**WARNING: OOCness (Mostly Watari)**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

(-)

When Sakura had signed up for staying at the orphanage, this is not what she had in mind. She was currently stuck with sweeping the floors, which wouldn't be much of a task, if the house weren't so huge.

She felt genuinely lied to. Was this really a house of crime solving geniuses?

She sighed, a pain slowly developing in her back. Apparently, the free-loader was supposed to do all the work in the household.

'_**Bullshit…'**_ Thought Inner Sakura

She hadn't refused, of course, as he had gone to all the trouble of washing and patching up her clothes. They looked brand new! Her ribbon was of course, also returned. She did have her complaints though, for one, she had to do the chores in the gigantic house. Second, she had the crappiest room in the house. And lastly, did she mention she had t do all the chores in the house?

Of course, there was no way she'd leave the household, it was her only chance she had at finding Ino. She'd fallen around that house, Ino was sure to be around the same area, right? And if she was, it was only a matter of time before she found this place and they could once again be reunited!

"Hey, pinky, how long are you planning on staying in my room?" Asked a certain dark haired man with dull green eyes and skin slightly darker than hers. He looked around her age, if not a bit older, and he was eating out of a jar of strawberry jelly.

She smiled gently

"Whammy told me to clean up everyone's rooms" She said and resumed her sweeping

"That's not what I asked you" He said

"Well that's what I'm telling you. I'll leave when I'm done cleaning, so be patient" Sakura said

His eyebrow twitched as he slipped another scoopful of his precious strawberry jam into his mouth. He took a seat on his bed and stared the girl down. He'd never seen her around, if he had, he'd definitely have remembered that pink hair of hers.

He then noticed her stiffen up

"Will you stop watching me? It's freaking me out! Go away!" Sakura said

"You're kicking me out of my own room?" Asked the boy, a spoonful of jelly in his mouth

"Yes, yes I am." Sakura stated clearly

"Sorry to disappoint you but I can't afford to have you messing up my room. You might break something." He said

Sakura's eyebrow twitched

"Hey now! I've carried books this-she outstretched her hand above her head-high and have never dropped a single one!" Sakura said

'I'll chose not to mention tripping every morning in my blankets' Sakura thought as she puffed out her chest in pride

"This high, huh? Bravo, now you can enter the circus." He said, slipping another spoonful of jelly from his jar into his mouth, savoring the taste

Sakura turned to him and the boy prepared for her screaming tantrum

Instead, she smiled, and then laughed!

"Hahaha! The circus! That'd be a show! I've got the pink hair for it!!" She screamed in between fits of laughter

The boy stared at her awkwardly, was she crazy? He'd just insulted her, and she agreed with him

What surprised him even more was the laughter bubbling up from his stomach. He fought valiantly at holding it back, but soon found it futile as he joined in along with her

"You're such an idiot!" He said, laughing. He didn't think he'd ever met a more naïve girl than this one; he had to wonder how she'd gotten into Whammy's in the first place

(-)

After the fits of laughter, Sakura was able to finish her work without any interruptions. The boy, watching her every move. She chose to ignore it, that is, until

"Why are you doing this anyways? You know Whammy won't do anything to you if you don't do it. He's a real pushover" Said the boy

Sakura continued sweeping with a gentle smile on her face

"I gave him my word that I would do it, and I can't go back on it." She said

"Why?" He asked

"Because it's wrong to go back on your word, for example, I know it wouldn't feel good if someone went back on their word to me, so I wouldn't want to wish that upon anyone else, even if it's something as small as sweeping the floors. I gave him my word I would do, so there's no way I'm going back on it!" She said

The boy glared at her

"That doesn't make any sense. You don't go back on your word even though you know others will go back on their word with you? Why should you care about other people's feelings? It's not like they're ever going to repay you for being honest" He said

Sakura shook her head

"You shouldn't do good things expecting something in return, because then it's not a good deed! If I were getting paid for doing this, then it'd just be business. Plus, what does it matter if others don't treat me the same way I treat them? It makes me unique, and just because the whole world goes back on their word, doesn't make it right for me to go back on my word as well. On the contrary, if I show people the happiness that comes with keeping your word to the world, then they might want to do it too to share and spread the warmth in their hearts called kindness!" Sakura said, turning to him with a gentle smile

The boy truly didn't know whether to call the girl a genius or an idiot. Was there really someone out there with such pure thoughts, or was she simply deceiving him into thinking in such a way, in which case, she was smarter than he'd given her credit for.

The look in her eyes, however, told him she truly believed in the kindness of other people's hearts

They were hypnotizing, and for a second, he actually thought she was right.

However, he instantly snapped out of it and muttered a "whatever" under his breath as he scraped at the bottom of his strawberry jelly jar with his spoon, gathering the remaining bits of it

A light 'pop' was heard and he looked up to see the pink haired girl holding out a now opened jar of fresh strawberry jelly. She smiled

"I got it from that shelf over there" She said, pointing to his 'stash'

She giggled

"You must like it a lot, there's hundreds!" She said

He was momentarily hypnotized by those dazzling jade eyes once again

He then proceeded to taking the jar from her outstretched hand, fingers lightly grazing hers

Once Sakura was sure he'd gripped it, she brought down he hand and took a look behind her

"Alright, this room seems just about finished; sorry for taking up your time, see you around, stranger!" She said, waving as she prepared to exit the room

"Haruno san!" He called out

She turned around with a "Yes?"

"BB" He said

"BB?" She questioned

"My name's not 'stranger', it's BB" He explained

Realization dawned as she recalled Whammy's speech about names and how their initials were used

Sakura turned with a grin

"Alright, BB, no need to be so formal though, just call me 'Sakura'." She said

BB smirked and followed her out the door. He leaned on the door frame as he watched Sakura head down the hallway, his shinigami eyes glinting.

'Things have become a little more interesting' He thought to himself, slipping a spoonful of jelly into his mouth

Poor, naïve little Sakura hadn't even noticed she'd never even given out her name to the guy.

(-)

The next day, Sakura had moved up from sweeping floors to raking leaves; joy.

It was winter now, and she was forced to put away her red dress in place of a red kimono. Why a kimono, she would never know. She believed Whammy enjoyed dressing her up, but that remained to be proven. No new news of Ino had shown up, and it had already been a month.

She looked longingly outside the Main gates, hoping to catch a glimpse of light blonde hair a shimmering blue eyes

'It's cold now, is she warm? Is she safe? Is she alive?' Sakura thought

She instantly shook her head at the last thought

'Ack! I can't be thinking of those types of things right now! I've got to keep hope alive! She has to be alive!' Sakura thought

BB was no help at all, during the fall she refused to remove her dress because it was the only thing she had that reminded her of her home. Dresses plus the fall breeze do not mix well.

**FLASHBACK**

"_I'm telling you, you're going to catch a cold with that thing on, if you're trying to seduce me, do it when you're older and have something to flaunt" BB said. They were currently sitting atop the brick wall around Whammy's House. He had chosen to sit down, while Sakura was standing up, staring off into the distance, looking for something with hopeful eyes_

_She did this often, he noted. She was expecting something, at the time, however, he truly didn't care for what it was. He could see the goose bumps on her legs and she was holding herself for warmth. She was just being stubborn, he thought as he slipped another spoonful of jelly into his mouth_

_Sakura blushed maddeningly, and just when she was about to retort, a particularly harsh gust of wind hit them as her dress was blown upwards_

_BB dropped the spoon back into his jar as he gaped with widened eyes at her. His sharp mind instantly memorized her pale, soft skin and the cute belly button perfectly situated in the center of her abdomen. It didn't go any higher than that, though it didn't need to as a certain piece of cloth caught his eye. He gaped at it long and hard_

"_EEK!" Sakura screeched as she tried to hold down her dress against the prevailing winds. It soon stopped and she sighed in relief. She turned to BB to continue her earlier conversation to nag to him about how she wouldn't be caught dead seducing men because it was stupid and how she believed in true love when she noticed him gaping at her_

_She raised a brow in question and asked_

"_What're you looking at?" _

_BB instantly snapped out of his stupor and replied with a smirk_

"_Nothing… strawberry panties girl" _

_Realization donned on her and she had locked her self in her room for the rest of the day after screaming about how she couldn't get married anymore _

**END FLASHBACK**

Anime tears rolled down Sakura's face at that recollection. She was no longer pure, how would she face her mother? BB didn't help in her pain at all after that, and he proceeded to refer to her from that point on as 'strawberry panties girl'

'Has he no shame?' Sakura thought

She didn't get to reminisce for very long, however, as she soon saw two figures walking towards the house in the distance. One was obviously Whammy. She could tell because he always wore that same outfit every time he went out. The other, was the form of a small figure. It wore a thick, warm jacket and its neck was wrapped around in a scarf. A hat topped the kids head, shielding the persons face from sight. The kid was her height, if not a bit taller. She couldn't tell because she was so far away. She opened the gates to get a better look, her tiny geisha sandal clacking as she went. The wind blew the pink locks she had with her traditional bow on top.

As Whammy neared, he removed his hat with the hand that wasn't currently holding onto the childs. He smiled at Sakura in greeting, taking in the cute little geisha dress he'd gotten her

Sakura took his smile in a slightly different way, however

Her eyes slowly widened at his gentle smile

'Could it be?' Sakura thought

Her eyes squinted, holding back happy tears

She then ran towards the small form in the distance holding Whammy's hand

The child looked up as he heard the pitter patter of small feet drawing closer

The childs grip tightened on Whammy's hand, and Whammy looked down at the kid with a smile as he gripped his hand back

This moment, however, was interrupted as a pink blur pounced onto the child, taking the child down and straddling the kid as the pink haired girl shoved her face into the kids jacket, muttering incoherent words through the cloth of the kids' jacket

The child also couldn't help but notice her legs had slipped out of the kimono, giving the child an eye full of pale legs, a sharp contrast to the blood red kimono currently on her form

"Now, you'll have enough time to get cozy with L inside the household and in the privacy of your own room. However, I'd like to be given the chance to get him through the basics if you wouldn't mind sharing him." Whammy said, having developed an unusual playful side specifically reserved for her in the short time he had known her. Who could resist the temptation?

Sakura's eyes widened

'L?' She thought. Slowly, but surely, she raised her head to take in the appearance of the child she had just pounced on the floor. To her complete and utter dismay, what met her eyes were not blue eyes, but grayish black, with the appearance of dark circles beginning to develop beneath his eyes. And in place of light blonde hair, there were messy locks of black.

She stared at him for a minute, and he stared back. She stared at him some more, the boys eyes became annoyed, she stared at him again

'Maybe, he'll magically turn into Ino, or maybe, it's all a joke and it's a henge jutsu!' Sakura thought, obviously in denial

She smacked her palms against his cheeks and cupped them; she then proceeded to pinching them and stretching them out to see if she could reshape the face into looking like Ino. The boy then proceeded to pinch her cheeks immaturely as well, as a means of revenge.

"Ouch!!" Sakura said as he continued to pinch her

She instantly let him go and he continued to hold on

"Let go! Let go!" She cried in pain

"An eye for an eye, I have to hold it for as long as you did with me" He said emotionlessly with a blank look

"Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-OUCH!!" She said as he pinched her harder, his face never changing

'_**SHANNARO! An eye for an eye my ass! More like an eye for an eye plus taxes and interest!! I think he's enjoying this!!'**_ Thought Inner Sakura as she air punched the boy in her mind

A minute passed and he still had yet to let go

"Why aren't you letting go?!" She asked

"Why aren't you off me yet?" he asked, finally letting her go

She then glanced down and saw her position

She immediately bolted off, as though she'd been burnt

She felt like crying, if she couldn't get married back then, she most certainly couldn't now. Anime tears began rolling down her face as she grabbed onto Whammy

"I can't get married now!!" She screamed as L stared at the girl. Couldn't get married? Over that? Was she lying or just plain stupid? He asked himself as he stared at the girl still crying into Watari's jacket.

"Yeah, she's serious" Came voice from behind him, answering L's silent question

A boy with a jar of strawberry jam came into L's view as he turned around. The pale green eyed boy his around his age walked up L's side as he placed a spoonful of jam in his mouth.

"She's the type of girl who believes in the goodness of peoples hearts and is just about the most naïve girl you will ever meet." He said, watching the idiot cry over something stupid again

He grinned at L

"That's what makes her interesting." He said and then turned his head back to see Sakura try to rub the tears from her eyes with her kimono sleeve

"The names BB" He said

"Her name is Sakura" He added

"I am L" Lawliet said

BB nodded in recognition

**WITH SAKURA**

"You lied to me! You told me that was Ino!" Sakura cried

"I didn't lie, you came up with that idea on your own, Sakura" Whammy retorted

"Then what was the smile for?!" Sakura exclaimed

Whammy smiled

"You're wearing the kimono. It's quite befitting on you" Whammy replied

"That's no reason to smile!" Sakura said as she threw her arms about

It went on like that for a while. Eventually, everyone went inside.

L was now in Whammy's office discussing the basics. They were just about don when a gentle knock reached their ears from the door

"You may enter" Stated Whammy as the door creaked open and a head of pink hair popped in. Bright jade eyes looked at Watari, then at L before she smiled brightly

"Sorry for intruding." She said as she slipped inside, a tray in hand holding cups filled with some sort of hot liquid, as could be deduced by the hot steam dancing above it

"I brought you guys some hot chocolate." She said as she placed the tray on the desk

"Sakura, I don't think you've been properly introduced yet, this is L." Watari said

Sakura turned to L with a serious face, for an instant, L thought she'd take revenge for him pinching her earlier. What came next, however, was quite the opposite.

She ungraciously fell down to her knees, her palms on either side of her on the floor, her head ducked down low

"My deepest apologies! I disrespected you earlier because of a misunderstanding! I know it's not an excuse, but I wouldn't want you to think I did it to give you a hard time on your first day or pick on you or anything like that!" Sakura said earnestly

He starred at her and began to bite his thumb

After a while of not hearing anything, she thought the worst

'I knew it! He hates me! He's going to hold a grudge on me forever and never let me live it down! How shameful…' Sakura thought

"What are you willing to give me in order for me to forgive you?" L said, testing her out

Sakura sat up and looked him in the eye confidently

"I'm willing to give you my body if it's necessary" She said seriously

L resisted the urge to look at her incredulously. Being the young genius that he was, however, he maintained his poker face. He rubbed his bare feet together in his crouched position on the chair. The look in her eyes told him she was serious

She spoke once more

"I mean, Whammy uses my body all the time! And sometimes I even give it to BB." Sakura said

L turned his gaze to Watari

A moment of silence

Watari coughed

He'd been with Sakura long enough to know what she was talking about, but of course, where would be the fun in telling L that?

"It's true" He agreed

Now, L was no fool. On the contrary, he was a genius.

He turned his gaze back to Sakura. Now, this girl was either an upcoming porn star or an incredibly naïve person. Now, between the two, it was obvious which it should be, but it just couldn't click in his mind that someone could be that naïve, even for a four year old. Even he could catch the underlining sexual innuendo lying, waiting to be caught. Or maybe she was just pretending to be stupid? It was plausible, but what would her motives be? Could it be she just had a naturally perverted mind? He inwardly shook his head, no, that couldn't be the case, and her tears were sincere when she cried about not being able to get married over such a small issue. She also would've noticed she was straddling his lap quicker and would've tried something; a perverted mind wouldn't have passed up such a chance. But could such a naive girl exist in such an impure world? Surely not, she couldn't be that oblivious

"I mean, I can cook, and clean and organize your books for you too! I'm not so bad at sewing either! I've been practicing since I do the chores every day!" Sakura said as she counted off the things she could do with the fingers in her hand

He resisted the urge to fall out of his seat, while Watari resisted the urge to laugh.

"Yes, well, you can start off by bringing my hot chocolate." He said

"Yes, sir!" Sakura said as she got up, grabbed a cup and brought it up to him. He took a sip and brought it down

"Sugar cubes?" He asked and Sakura bolted out the door as though her life depended on it

She soon returned with a jar of sugar cubes. She grabbed his cup, set it on the table and began inserting sugar cubes, stopping to look up after each one she'd inserted for the nod for her to go on

'Is she serious about becoming my slave? What is she up to? What does she get out of it all?' L thought suspiciously of her

Sakura was soon starting to worry about the kid. If she put it any more sugar cubes, it would be solely made out of sugar cubes!

Sakura laughed nervously

"I think that's enough, don't you think? There'll be more sugar cubes than ho cocoa soon" Sakura said

He stared at her

She stared back nervously with a smile on her face

As he continued his one-sided staring competition with her, Sakura soon said

"It'll get cold"

He stared at her for a couple more second, before he nodded

She inwardly sighed and brought the cup to him and to her complete and utter shock, he drank the entire thing.

'He's unique, just like me' Sakura thought

'Things might not be so bad here' L thought as he looked up to see her gently smiling at him

She then took out a handkerchief and wiped the corner of L's mouth of its chocolaty residue

He looked towards her hand, and then back at her face

Her eyes then crinkled with her bright smile in response

He resisted the urge to blush

'What a strange girl' He thought

Whammy all the while, enjoyed the lovely scene before him.

'Things have become interesting indeed' he thought as he sat back in his chair

(-)

**Authors Note: YEAH! L has appeared! I mean, this chapter was originally intended for BB and Sakura, but I couldn't stand not having L in the picture! He's just so cute! **


	3. lunch time

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own Naruto or Death Note**

(-)

The next day, Sakura worked harder on her chores to finish in time to make L some lunch. She made a traditional bento with rice and sausages shaped like mini octopuses. She also took the time to prepare Dango with smiley faces on them. Last, but not least, came the desert.

"He likes sweets, so the normal thing to think about would be cake, right? But what flavor should it be? Chocolate?" Sakura thought aloud

"Strawberry." Came the response of an all too familiar voice.

Jade met pale green as Sakura turned to greet him

"Hey BB! Do you want me to cook you something too?" Sakura asked

BB held up his jar of jam in response

Sakura's eyebrow twitched

"That's not a meal" She said

"It doesn't have to be. I like it so I'll eat it however many times I please." Came BB's smug response

"I'll make you something anyways, right after I finish up with L's meal" Sakura said, on top of a chair over the kitchen counter, her geisha sleeves tied back along with her hair

BB shrugged and began exiting the kitchen

"Make it strawberry cake" He said, and Sakura turned to find him gone

"Strawberry cake?" Sakura asked herself.

She then smiled

"Yeah, strawberry cake sounds good." She said and immediately got to work

(-)

"What is this?" L asked, poking at the octopus looking 'thing' with his chopsticks.

It was staring back at him; he didn't like that. Also, the Dango had little expressions as well. One looked to possibly even take the appearance of him with dark bags under its eyes.

"It's lunch! I cooked it for you after finishing my chores this morning!" She beamed with a bright smile as he stared at her little "L" replica. She was proud of her work and couldn't wait to hear his reaction to it

Chores? Did she expect him to believe that a four year old was able to finish the housework all in one morning?

He stared at her emotionlessly as he sat in his usual crouched position, biting on his thumb. They were currently sitting inside one of the empty classrooms, the cold breeze whistling outside.

After a moment of silence, Sakura began to feel a bit nervous

"Kiss me…on the lips" L said

Sakura fell off the bench

After recovering a bit, she slammed her hand on the desk, an anime lump forming on her forehead

"You're not supposed to kiss people like that unless you're a mommy and they're a daddy!! DUH!!" Sakura said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world

'Well, I can rule out that she's some silly fan girl.' L concluded by the reaction he had received. He'd had to clarify where he wanted her to kiss him for if he hadn't, he was sure she'd come up with something stupid

"Ignore my earlier statement" L said as he looked back down to his bento

Realization donned on her

She tapped the side of her fist against her palm

"I get it" Sakura said

L turned back at her, was he found out?

Sakura then turned to him with a bright smile

"You want to play house with me right?" She said, her eyes crinkled up in joy that she'd found someone to play with

L could feel the urge to twitch his bottom eyelid at the girls stupidity

Sakura put her chin in between her fingers in a thoughtful manner, nodding

"Yes, yes, and BB be our son. He does have L's hair and green eyes after all, though his are a bit paler and he has tanner skin. Maybe we can say he was out on vacation and got a tan? Yeah! Yeah!" Sakura thought aloud to herself

She giggled in joy

'Genius! Genius! This is going to be so much fun!' Sakura thought to herself

After regaining his composure, L stared at her, something that had started to become a hobby of his.

'Amazing! She's a genuine idiot!' He thought to himself

'Fascinating' He added like a scientist would a new experiment subject as he bit his thumb

After Sakura got out of her fantasy land, all the while giggling and wiggling outwardly, she turned her attention back to L

After a bit of waiting, he finally tried a piece of the rice

His nose crinkled

"Needs syrup" He said

"You mean soy sauce?" She asked

"Chocolate syrup" He corrected

"What?" Sakura said, looking at him a bit incredulously

"And marshmallows too. With sprinkles and whipped cream" He added

"On RICE?" She asked to clarify

He looked at her blankly and answered with a simple

"Yes"

'Is everyone in this household under a sugar fetish?' Sakura asked herself

"No" She said

"But you're my slave; you gave me your body, right? So you must do as I see fit" L responded dryly

"I'm also your friend! And as a friend, there's no way I'm going to let you destroy your body! You have to eat a decent meal!" Sakura said

"I don't have to do anything, sweets are something I enjoy eating, and as such, I'll eat it as much as I want" L said

Sakura twitched, having heard something somewhere along those lines earlier that morning

'Are they twins?' Sakura asked herself

'_**SHANNARO! I spend all morning, rushing through chores just to make you this lunch and now you're going to ruin it? I'll shove it down your throat if I have to!'**_ Screamed Inner Sakura

Her thoughts were then interrupted when he added

"And since when…have I said you were my friend?" He asked

Sakura's eyes widened

"We're not…friends?" She asked, hurt

"It's only logical, after all, we just met yesterday" he said staring at his bento and picking at it with his chopsticks

'She'll cry now' He deduced

And just as he expected, tears started to roll down her cheeks as he caught a glimpse of her genuinely hurt expression before she turned her head down and started softly crying

Small hiccups came here and there, and she would occasionally sniff and try to wipe off her tears with the sleeve of her kimono

He expected her to leave but to his surprise, she stayed. He stared her down with a bored expression, expecting get up and run away screaming any minute now

She didn't

After a while her crying died down and as she wiped the last remains of her salty tears, she looked up with a wide smile

"Alright, but from now on, I'm going to do my best to become a friend worthy of you. Then, when you've agreed to it, we can work together to build an everlasting bond of friendship!" Sakura said with a bright smile

He stared at her, trying to catch a glimpse of a twitch that would signal she was lying or joking. She didn't, her eyes remained unwavering with a fire of determination in them.

After a while, he gave a slight smile

Sakura felt elated! It was the first time she'd seen him smile, which was a shame because she thought everyone should smile as much as they could, because smiling was the key to happiness.

'It's also contagious' She thought as she gave an even brighter smile of her own as her eyes crinkled upward

L was momentarily mesmerized by her smile, and thought fleetingly that maybe showing emotions wouldn't be so bad, if he'd get to see her smile like that each time.

With that thought in mind, he picked up some Dango and took a rather large bite of it.

It wasn't as sweet as he was normally accustomed to, but it would have to do.

Sakura stared at him in awe and shock as he slowly, but surely ate her meal.

"But I thought you said-" Sakura started

"I've decided to eat it now." He said simply, interrupting her as he swallowed the food in his mouth

Sakura beamed

"How is it?" She asked

"Terrible" He replied honestly

"What?! Then why are you eating it?!" Sakura asked incredulously

"Stop complaining, you're the one who told me to eat it in the first place." L said with his usual dull expression, chopsticks still in his mouth

It took Sakura a while to put two and two together, but she eventually got it, and when she did, she beamed!

'I knew it! There's kindness in everyone! He's a bit weird, immature, and childish and even mean at times, but I just know we'll get along just fine! Hear that Ino? When I find you, I'm going to introduce you to all the new friends I've made here, just wait for me.' Sakura thought, looking out the window

L noticed this, but decided not to comment about it as he finished his meal

(-)

"Last dish!" Sakura screamed as she took out a pink box

L wrinkled his nose; he'd just finished that stale food, what was next? Some kind of salty seafood?

"Close your eyes L" Sakura said with a smile

"I'd rather not" L responded, looking down at the box in her hand

When she said nothing, he looked up to see her smiling

"Aww! Come on L!" She said

"No, it might be poison" L said seriously, though Sakura didn't take it in such a way as she thought he meant it simply tasted nasty

Sakura sighed in defeat

"Fine" She said and opened the box to reveal a slice of strawberry cake

"See? It's a cake! A reward for eating my food." She said

She gave it to him in his hands, along with a spoon

"Dig in!" She said to him

He quickly did as told and brought a spoonful to his mouth to remove the foul taste that lingered in his mouth from his previous meal

She stayed with him until he finished his meal watching him all the while. After he was done, she stood up and dusted off her kimono.

"Alright, I've got a couple things left to do, so see ya!" Sakura said with a wave as she headed towards the door

L then muttered

"Strawberry's are my favorite."

This, of course, went unheard by Sakura as she had already left the room

(-)

BB was currently trying to reach a particular jar of jelly atop the kitchen cabinets. He'd run out of his stash, and Watari hadn't come back from the market. It was the last jar left and he had to have it.

He stood atop a chair on his tippy toes and he could feel the jar with the tips of his finger

This is when a laugh came from behind him and he fell

He cursed the name of the woman and turned to glare at her

"You interrupted my concentration!" He said

"It's what you get for always obsessing over jelly all the time! Plus, what happened to your food? Have you eaten it yet?" Sakura asked

"Is it jelly?" BB asked

"No" Sakura said

"Then I don't want it" He said as he place the chair back in its place to get ready for a second shot

"If you eat it I'll help you get that jar of jelly on top of the cabinets" Sakura said with a devious smirk

"If you think I'll fall for that, you've got another thing coming" He said

(-)

After various failed attempts to grab it with a stick, he had succeeded

At pushing the jar further away from him than it originally was

Which brought him to his current situation

"Now say 'A~AH'" Sakura said, a spoonful of rice in hand

BB glared

'If I ever develop a serial killer streak, I'm targeting her as one of my victims' BB thought

He opened his mouth grudgingly and she placed the spoonful of rice into his mouth

It tasted stale, but he really did want that jar of jelly, so he chewed and swallowed the vile substance

The torture continued for the remainder of the meal

'Her death will be slow and painful. SLOW and PAINFUL' He thought annoyed at having been treated like a child

In truth, Sakura had been waiting to do this ever since L mentioned playing house. She was jumping with glee on the inside

After BB finished rinsing out his mouth of the remnants of that poison, he turned to glare down at the girl sitting on the kitchen. She smiled, genuinely, and waved

He inwardly rolled his eyes

"Alright, time for your end of the deal!" BB said

Sakura nodded and placed the chair near the cabinet.

"Alright, now lift me up!" Sakura said

He gave her a 'WTF?' look

"Wrong, you're going to hold _**me**_ up" BB said

"What? But you're heavy!" Sakura said

"Plus, I'm the lady!" She added

"Sakura, you're heavy too and you don't have the necessary assets to be called a lady" He said

"Assets? But I can cook and clean and sew! I'm a good girl!" Sakura said, completely oblivious

"Plus, it's rude to call a girl heavy, even if they are! It could hurt their feelings!" Sakura said

He sighed and turned to face her, a smile slightly tugging at his lips

He should've known better; she was oblivious unless you thoroughly explained these kinds of things to her

"Just get on the chair" He said, resisting the urge to tell her that he truly didn't care about hurting other peoples feelings and correcting what he meant about 'assets'

'It's much more interesting this way' he thought as he watched her climb onto the chair

He walked up to her and she smiled at him.

She extended her hand with a smile

He accepted it

Sakura then helped him up to the chair so they were both standing on the chair. They were facing each other, and BB resisted the urge to blush at the close proximity of the two, as warm butterflies flapped about his stomach for some unknown reason. He looked away and hid his eyes with his bangs

Sakura remained clueless

She smirked

"If you're scared, I could be the one to be lifted up" She said, trying to slip a fast one

His head snapped back as his eye twitched maddeningly in anger

'How can she not notice the situation were in right now?!' He asked himself

"No way in hell!" he replied and turned his body away from her to face the cabinet

Sakura sighed; she should've known it wouldn't work

She then clasped her hands together to create a stepping stool for him

She crouched down and BB stepped back into her hands. Once he was on, she tried with all her might to get him up

Any normal four year old girl would not be able to do this, but of course, Sakura was no ordinary four year old girl. She had been born and raised in a shinobi village, after all.

Of course, lifting him up was the hardest part, so it was logical that she'd take a while to do it. BB, however, didn't see it that way.

"Man, are you really this weak?" BB said

"I'm not a man!! And I'm not weak!" Sakura said, finally lifting him up. He'd lost his balance a bit because of the sudden motioned, but regained it quickly

'_**MAN! He's SO heavy!'**_ Inner Sakura cried as beads of sweat quickly developed on Sakura's forehead

"Are you done yet?" Sakura cried

"Just a little further" He said, as if it were easy

She got up on her tippy toes and BB was finally able to reach it

"Got it! Nice work Sakura-WOAH!" He said as Sakura began to wobble

She eventually slipped, and they began to fall

He close his eyes and readied himself for the pain that never came

He then took and a slight peek to be met with pink locks

He blinked and it was then that he felt a small hand wrapped around his form

His eyes widened and he moved back a bit to take in her face

She looked at his with apologetic eyes

"I'm sorry" She said before unconsciousness took over her.

'Sorry?' He asked himself as he sat up. It was then that he noticed what she was talking about. Her palm lay face down towards the floor, covered in red. It was his strawberry jelly, she'd tried to catch it and it had shattered in her palm. Shards of glass pricked her skin here and there and he just stared

After a short while, he looked back at her unconscious face and said

"Idiot"

(-)

Sakura awoke in a familiar white room and bed. She wore the same attire she had in her last visit to the room: shirt and sweat pants. This time, however, there were three things off.

First off, her bandages weren't scattered everywhere, instead, they focused mainly around her head and her hand

The second and third things that were off from last time were the people there in the room with her. In place of Watari stood two messy dark haired boys. One with dull green eyes and the other with black-grey eyes

"Is this what you had to do?" Asked L, hands in his pockets and in a slightly slouched position, his expression unreadable

Sakura laughed nervously as she sat up

"Not exactly" She said

There was a moment of silence as the two boys stared her down

Sakura, feeling uneasy, tried to relieve the tension

"Look, I'm alright, it doesn't hurt one bit!" Sakura said, pounding a fist to her chest

She then proceeded to removing the blankets from her form to swing her legs out of bed in an attempt to get up

"Alright, what time is it?" Sakura said, looking at the clock

"WOW! Seven o' clock already? You guys must be hungry, I'll go make some food-" Sakura started as she began to get up only to be stopped by BB's hand. She looked at him; he had a strange look in his eyes. But before she had time to analyze it, he began to give her a noogie, rubbing his fist against her temples

"Ow-ow-ow-ow-OUCH!" Sakura cried

"Doesn't hurt, huh?" He stated before a hand grabbed his hand

"That's enough" L said

Dull grey clashed with dull black

Sakura just wanted to sink into a corner and pretend she didn't exist; strangely the world had started turning…

"I knew Sakura before you, I know how to handle her" BB said

She was now seeing doubles; did L always have six eyes?

"If 'handling her' means placing her in a dangerous situation and having the audacity to still inflict more pain upon her the, yes, you're handling her quite well" L stated in a bored tone

BB snatched his hand away from the detestable man and walked away

"Could it have been something I said?" He asked no one in particular right before Sakura fainted, having stopped listening to the conversation when BB had started rubbing his knuckles into her head.

(-)

Sakura awoke late at night, the curtains open giving her a good view of the stars, something that remained the same in this world

She then noticed dull grey eyes staring at her

She stared back

"No way! Have you been awake all this time?" Sakura asked incredulously as she glanced at the clock. It was now four thirty two in the morning, way past bedtime.

"I hardly ever get any sleep anyways" L said. He'd been watching her sleep, wondering about his past actions. Whammy's House was a competitive school, and he, along with A and BB were the top nominees at reaching the top. It was only natural that they'd be bitter towards one another. Sakura, however, was an exception. He didn't quite think she got the whole concept of "There can only be one" on the contrary; she didn't look to be competing for the best at all. Was it all a trap to lure them into a false sense of security?

'Tricky' he thought in his hunched position, thumb in his mouth

Sakura sighed. She reached out for his had and pulled him to towards her with all her might, making sure not to touch her injured one. L, being caught off guard, fell onto the bed and into her chest

He looked up and she smiled

"Nap Time!" She said

Now, L would've protested if his eyes didn't suddenly start to get heavy and if she weren't massaging his head so gently

Sakura scooted over to make room for him in the bed and gave him a pillow. He lied down and curled into a ball towards her. After all, he was a child too.

Sakura lied down as well after placing the covers over them both. She faced him and he stared at her with half lidded eyes. She then continued her massage on his head.

"My mom use to do this for me whenever I had a nightmare" Sakura reminisced

"She'd run her fingers through my hair and sing a tune then give me a goodnight kiss and say she loved me" Sakura said with a gently smile

"It must be scary to be alone at night. Do you get nightmares too, L?" Sakura asked gently

Instead of replying, he snuggled into the crook of her neck, taking his hours of much needed sleep for now, even though his analytical side warned him not to, seeings how vulnerable he'd end up.

Sakura was shocked at first, but quickly recovered as her eyes softened in understanding and she wrapped her uninjured hand around him

Why did he not heed his logical thinking? He didn't have enough information to say he could trust her yet. However, for some reason, he felt like he could. He _**wanted**_ to trust her, no, that wasn't it. He _**needed **_to be able to trust her. Why, he had yet to find out, then again, he was just a child, after all…

Little did Sakura know of the several heated glares being directed her way through a crack in the door.

"That stupid bitch…"

(-)

**Authors Note: Yes, yes, the question on everyone's minds is: "Where the hell is Matt, Mello and Near?!" **

**They'll be in shortly, however, the gap in ages is far too great in the original series so I'll be altering them slightly**

**Sakura: 4 years old**

**L/BB: 6 years old**

**Matt/mello: 5 years old**

**Near: 4 years old**

**Hope it doesn't bug you guys too much, because while L is 26, Mello is 15, and we DO want Mello sometime soon, right? Okay, on to the next official business!!**

**If you have extra time, I'd like you to spread the ByaSaku fandom involving Byakuya from bleach and sakura. There's a link on my page (it's the first one), ignore the ranting idiot called Blossomwar going on about how it'll never happen and that KarinxSasuke rules and Karin is awesome and yada yada (Karin has nothing to do with the video, thank GOD)**

**Surprisingly, this is the ONLY ByaSaku video on youtube, why this is so I will never understand**

**At the moment, I'm busy with my current fanfic, so I can't make one about ByaSaku, but if anyone has any links, I'd love to read them. These types of pairings are hard to find you know **


	4. Friends?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Death Note**

* * *

L awoke to the feel of a tiny hand clasped onto his own. He opened his eyes and looked to the side to find the owner of the hand.

His eyes were met with green. The owner of the green eyes smiled

"Man, were you sleepy!! You've been asleep all day!" came the voice of the pink haired girl that had plagued him before he'd even stepped foot inside the orphanage

He sat up to take her in; she was sitting on the chair next to the hospital bed. Had she been there this whole time?

"How's your hand?" L asked

Sakura blinked. She then glanced at her own hand

"It feels a lot better, and they finally took the bandages off my head! They told me I'm recuperating faster than any ordinary child! Isn't that great? It's because I'm a ninja, and we always heal a lot faster!" Sakura said

L stared at her blankly

"Ninja?" He asked, probing her for more information

"Yeah! We're like superhero's who can run super fast, control the elements, and create illusions!" Sakura said excitedly

"Oh really?" L said doubtfully

"Show me" He added

Sakura laughed

"Oh, I can't do any of that stuff. Ninja academy doesn't start until you're eight! DUH!" Sakura said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world

'She must've hit her head harder than I thought…' L concluded

"I never did see your hand injury, if it's healed by now, it must've not have originally been that bad. Your head is another story, I think you should lie down" L said dully, getting out of the bed

Sakura's cheeks heated up in anger as she puffed out her cheeks

'Why doesn't anyone believe me!?' Sakura thought

* * *

After a couple days, Sakura had finally gotten out of the little hospital, and she was ready to yell at L and BB for not having come to visit her for the remainder of her stay.

'I bet L stopped coming because I told him about the ninja stuff, but what's BB's problem?!' Sakura thought

As she rounded the corner, she looked up to see one of the boys she'd just been thinking about across the hall

Their eyes met, and Sakura's brows furrowed as she pointed an accusing finger at BB

"What the hell is your problem? You didn't even come visit me!" Sakura said angrily

However, her façade didn't last long as anime tears began streaming down her face

"It was lonely there and the white wall made it feel like an insane asylum! I felt like I was being tortured! I didn't have anyone to talk to at all and the nurse wouldn't let me leave!" Sakura whined like the child she was

"Idiot…" BB commented distantly as he stared intently at the tiny bandages here and there on her fragile hands

Sakura noticed this and raised her brow in question

"Hey, what's wrong?" Sakura asked as she watched him walk closer to her

'I hope he's not coming to give me a noogie again! Those things hurt!' Sakura thought

When he finally reached her, she tensed and squeezed her eyes shut, expecting a smack on the head for being an idiot or a scolding

It never came

Instead, he continued his steady pace and walked passed her

She blinked, opening her eyes as she looked back to see BB's retreating form

"Hey! Where are you going? I'm not done with you! What kind of a person doesn't go visit a friend that's in the hospital for a couple days! Do you have any idea how boring it was? I wasn't even allowed to go outside to walk around or anything! Hey! Are you listening to me?!" Sakura said, annoyed at the fact that he wasn't stopping to hear her complain

She furrowed her eyebrows and, fed up with being ignored, she ran up to him and grabbed his shoulder

He tilted his head to the side

"Whoever said…I was your friend?" BB questioned with narrowed eyes

Sakura's eyes widened and her hand fell from BB's shoulder

BB seized the opportunity and ran down the hallway

Sakura quickly recovered from her momentary shock and felt her eyebrow twitch in anger

"Of course I'm your friend you idiot! Even if it's one-sided, I'm use-to dealing with big dummy-heads like YOU!!" Sakura screamed down the hall, loud enough for him to hear before he rounded the corner

'Jeez, they're just alike!' Sakura thought as she remembered L telling her something somewhere along those lines as well.

Anime tears began flowing down her cheeks

'Why are they always so mean to me?!' She thought, distressed at being treated so unkindly. Ino had always thought of her feelings whenever she said something, and she'd say sorry and pat her head whenever she cried. Than again, Ino was a girl, and she was also her friend, unlike a couple dark haired boys she knew.

Sakura soon regained her composure and she wiped her tears from cheeks

'I'm such a crybaby' Sakura scolded herself as she sat against the wall on one side of the empty hall.

It was quiet, and Sakura took this time to think

'I'm sure BB didn't mean it, but is that any way to treat the injured?' She thought

It was then that it donned on her. She looked down at her bandaged hands

'That's it! I get it now! No wonder he acting like that!' She began excitedly as a child would after accomplishing a great feat

'Come to think of it, he was staring at my hands earlier too! It all makes sense!' Sakura thought as she got up with a smile

'I know just what to do to fix this!' She added as she dashed to her destination

* * *

"Got it!" Sakura thought aloud as she grabbed a glass jar from the kitchen full of the red substance she knew a certain dark haired boy would love

'Why didn't I get this before? After going through his end of the deal and eating the food I made, it's only natural he'd be mad at me for dropping the jelly I promised I'd get him.' She thought with a smile

It soon faltered however as she began to grow doubts in her mind about the matter at hand

She gazed at the jar of strawberry jelly she'd gotten so used to seeing in her time at Wammy's

'What if this isn't enough? What if he thinks I did it on purpose to be mean or something?' She thought

She didn't allow such thoughts to remain in her mind for long, however, as she quickly shook her head and replaced her saddened eyes with a determined look

"SHANNARO! This has to work! I'll say sorry and if that doesn't work, I'll just keep coming back again and again! Haruno Sakura does NOT give up!" She said a little too loudly

However, as soon as she'd said it she clamped a hand over her mouth, embarrassed. She looked to her left, to her right, behind her, and after not seeing anyone in the kitchen, she went towards the kitchen door to check for anyone who had heard the comment she'd accidently let her Inner say

As usual, she was met with empty corridors

She scratched the back of her head

'Speaking of which, this is an orphanage and I haven't even seen any kids around other than BB and L, well, except for when I'm outside. Why is it so empty here? Unless, this is some evil lair for baby eating demons! Oh no! Why am I just noticing this?! BB and L aren't safe!' Sakura thought as she ran towards Watari's main office.

It didn't take her long to get there, and she slammed open the door with tears gathering in the corners of her eyes

"Don't eat them! They're my friends! They're bullies and they're mean to me a lot, but don't kill L and BB, please!!" Sakura screamed at Watari as he calmly sat at his desk doing paperwork

"Did BB tell you some crazy story again? Didn't you learn your lesson when he told you the one about a watermelon growing in your stomach if you ate the seeds?" Watari complained as he looked up at her

"BB didn't tell me! I found it out on my own! How else do you explain the fact that you gather kids here and then they go missing?!" Sakura demanded

"They don't go missing; L and BB simply live in a different building because they can't afford to let others communicate with them on a daily basis. They're interested in becoming detectives in the near future, so giving out information about them could affect such a career." Watari explained calmly

"Detectives? You mean ninja's? Isn't everyone here studying to become that?" Sakura asked

"No, not ninja's, and stop insisting on that, I never once mentioned anyone trying to become a ninja. As for you other question, this school may be for geniuses, but they each specialize in their own thing. The geniuses of this school vary from detectives to artists. Each child has their own area of expertise." He said

Sakura smiled

"No way! So that means L and BB trust me enough to be friends with me! So I get to live with L and BB too because I'm a super cool ninja right?" Sakura said, pointing to herself

"Did you just ignore my comment about stopping the ninja stuff? The reason I put you there to live with L and BB is because they wouldn't put up much of a fuss if they found out you weren't actually a genius. And I wouldn't think L and BB trust you enough to share personal information if I were you." Watari said

'Most likely they think you'd be too stupid to notice any special habits or distinctive personality traits.' Watari thought to himself

Sakura grinned victoriously, not hearing a word he said as she gave him a thumbs-up

"Don't worry Watari! You can count on me! No one will know of L's love for playing house!" She said with a wink

Watari sweat dropped

'Yes, I can clearly see why L and BB would find it safe to speak with this child' He thought to himself

"You know, L and BB may prefer to not socialize with the other children, but if you'd like, you could go play with the other children whenever you'd like. They spend most of the day in classes that are held in the building across from this one." Watari said, pointing at the building that could be seen through his building

Sakura sweat dropped

'Why didn't I ever notice that place?' She thought, disappointed at herself

"However, I must warn you, you shouldn't expect them to accept you right away." Watari said

Sakura scoffed

"I am a very sociable creature, sir Watari. It's Haruno Sakura you're talking about here! I can do anything!" She screamed confidently

"Sakura, it wouldn't be wise to scream out you're full name like that in front of people with such flawless memory" Watari commented

Sakura clasped a hand over her mouth

"Whoops!" She said as she laughed nervously

"Sorry!" She added

"Would 'S' be good enough?" Watari asked

Sakura thought about it for a while

"Umm, I think I should be fine as long as I don't give out my last name, so I'll just say Sakura, there's no sure way to tell if it's really my name anyways." Sakura said with a smile

"Plus, all my files are in Konoha, there's no way they could figure out anything about me!" She said

'Konoha?' Watari thought, but didn't bother to ask for fear of another rant about ninja's. Well, every kid had their own hobby anyways. Sakura's would just be ninja's

* * *

"Well class, today we have a new student. You may refer to her as Sakura" The teacher introduced.

The door soon slid open and Sakura came through in her bright red dress and bow

She smiled

"Hi! It's nice to meet you! I hope we can get along!" Sakura said to the class as hushed whispers spread throughout the room

"Hey, doesn't she live in the same building as L and BB?" whispered one

"No way! Then she must be a super genius!" Another mentioned

Sakura sweat dropped

Watari had set up the paper work to transfer her into a basic class the day before. He said it wouldn't be too hard to fit in since none of the kids bothered to take it seriously anyways. All she had to do was keep a low profile

Sakura soon took a seat, ignoring the whispers of "Look at her hair!" and "Why does she get to be with L and BB?"

The teacher had already begun the lesson, but it didn't seem anyone was paying attention. They were either drawing, eating, or-was that kid trying to chew his toe-nails? Why wasn't the teacher saying anything?!

Sakura eased away from the toe-nail eating kid before she got her books and decided to switch seats

She looked around

There was a nice group of girls to Sakura's right and the girl drawing in a sketchbook had an available seat right next to her! She had light brown hair and dark brown eyes that stared intently at her work.

Sakura smiled

'After all, I DO get along better with girls!' Sakura thought as she headed over

"What are you drawing?" Sakura asked as she took a peek at the girls' sketchbook. She was drawing a flower

"Wow! You know how to draw really well!" Sakura started

The girl looked up at Sakura. She then smiled…

And proceeded to using the remainder of the space on the bench as her own personal foot rest

"There's no room for you here, forehead girl, keep searching" She said bitterly with the fake smile still in place

Sakura's eyebrow twitched as the rest of the girls kept snickering

"Hey! That's mean! If you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all!" Sakura replied with the words her mother had once spoke to her

The laughs grew louder

"What kind of an idiot believes in that!?" Said the brown haired girl

"Hey! Leave her alone, Shizuki!" Came a voice behind Sakura

She turned around and saw a girl with black hair put up in a side ponytail and dark brown eyes, gazing unwaveringly at the group of girls picking on Sakura

"Mind your business, Mitsuki!" Said the girl called 'Shizuki'

"She is my business!" Said 'Mitsuki' as she grabbed Sakura's hand and dragged her to an empty seat beside her on the other side of the classroom.

Sakura blushed

"Thanks" She muttered as she and Mitsuki sat down

'**Shannaro! I could've taken them on!'**Thought Inner Sakura

Mitsuki smiled

"Don't worry about it, they're always like that. They're just mad because you're getting so much attention on your first day." replied Mitsuki as she took out her pen and paper to begin jotting down notes

"Attention?" Sakura asked

"Yeah, because you seem to be such close friends to L and BB. They're the top students along with A; just getting to talk to a single one of them once is an honor!" Said Mitsuki

'You've gotta be kidding me!' Sakura thought incredulously

"What's so great about talking to them? We live in the same orphanage! You can go see them whenever you want!" Said Sakura

'And who's A?' Sakura thought, saving the question for later

"I wish! Haven't you heard about the incident that occurred on L's first day here?" Asked Mitsuki

Sakura thought back

**FLASHABACK**

"_Lemme Go!" Sakura said to the boy who was pinching her cheeks_

"_No, you lemme go first!" Replied L, as Sakura pinched his cheeks_

**END FLASHBACK**

Sakura rubbed her cheeks, remembering the pain

"Yeah, I remember, he pinched my cheeks really hard…" Sakura said distantly

Sakura sweat dropped

"I didn't hear about any cheek pinching, but supposedly he got into a big fight with the staff and kids, and ended up unscathed in the end!" Mitsuki said

**FLASHBACK **

"_What…what happened here?" Asked Watari as he looked around the room to see the bodies of children and staff members alike on the floor, unconscious_

_L looked at him plainly; large eyes staring at Watari with his thumb in his mouth as he stood in his slightly hunched posture with his sleeves covering the hand that remained slack beside him, his loose jeans reaching his bare feet_

_Finally, he responded in his usual expressionless tone_

"_After saying 'A new face! Let's cuddle him,' they employed violence against me. They are the ones who started it. I am justice." _

**END FLASHBACK**

Sakura sweat dropped

"Good thing I didn't try to cuddle him" Sakura thought aloud

Mitsuki stared at Sakura for a while

"I'm sure he'd let you, it's just like that with BB. He never talked to anyone before you, and now he follows you around like a puppy" She finally said with a smile

"A puppy?" Sakura said thoughtfully as she pictured it with large eyes and black fur, smiling with its tongue out

'Woof!' Said the imaginary puppy in her head

"So cute!" Sakura said aloud as she remained in her imaginary world, all the while screaming and squirming in her own seat

Mitsuki sweat dropped

"Just don't tell BB that or he'll kill us all." Mitsuki said

Sakura laughed

"So you know about his bad temper too?" Sakura said

"He gives anyone who talks to him evil glares until they go away, I think he hates us all" She said

Sakura then realized something

With all this talk about school and eating babies, she'd forgotten to make up with BB! She made a mental note to go visit him after school and get him his extra jar of jelly

"And by the way, who's A? Does he live in the same building as me, BB and L? I've never seen him around" Sakura said

"He's more social than them, so he doesn't seclude himself from the rest of the group. I'm sure you'll meet him now that you've started attending classes" Said Mitsuki

Sakura smiled

"By the way, what do you specialize in?" Asked Mitsuki

"It's a secret!" Sakura said

Mitsuki stared at her for a while before finally giving in

"Fine, if you don't want to tell your loving friend these things then it's fine by me!" Mitsuki said, feigning a hurt expression

"No way! It's not like that I just-wait, we're friends?!" Sakura said

"What? You don't want to be friends? And after all the trouble I went through to save you too!" Mitsuki said

"That's not it at all! I'm really happy! You're the first friend I've made so far!" Sakura said

"Aren't you friends with L and BB?" Mitsuki said

A blue cloud then hovered over Sakura and rain and lightning began coming out of it as Sakura put on a sad face

"Not at all, they're really mean to me; I think they just hang out with me to relieve their stress and to have someone to bully all the time!" Sakura explained

Mitsuki laughed

"Well, don't worry, because I'm your friend now! Didn't you hear me earlier? You're my business! So feel free to talk to me about anything!" Mitsuki said

Sakura beamed

"Well, there was one thing I wanted to ask of you, where's the kitchen in this building? I need some strawberry jelly" Sakura said

"Strawberry jelly? You're in luck! I brought a jar to go with my peanut butter and jelly sandwich today! You can have it once I've gotten a bit on my sandwich, I don't need it all" Said Mitsuki

Sakura's eyes brightened as she hugged Mitsuki

"Thanks! You're the greatest!" Sakura said

* * *

During lunch, Mitsuki had given her the strawberry jelly jar, as promised, and it was even mostly full!

Of course, Sakura thanked Mitsuki again

"I don't know what I would've done without you! I had completely forgotten about giving BB jelly today!" Sakura said as she made her way to the door

"Don't worry about it, just make sure to make it back here before class starts!" Mitsuki said as she sat at her seat and ate her lunch quietly

Sakura nodded, and with that, she exited the door

* * *

As Sakura made her way out the door of the building, she crossed the dirt yard and noticed all the kids playing. She stopped and looked back; she really did want to play with them too, but of course, she could save that for later, right now, she had to make up with BB.

With that thought in mind, she turned and made to dash forward, before bumping into someone.

She fell back with an 'OOF!' but managed to save the jelly

She muttered a word of apology under her breath as she got up and rubbed her bottom

"Sorry's not good enough, forehead! Who do you think you are, giving sweets to my man?!" Said a particularly familiar voice

She looked up and was met with the same girl from class, Shizuki she thought her name was, accompanied by the group of girls who sat by her that she hadn't gotten the names of yet. Were they artists too?

Getting back to the issue at hand, a better question would be how she knew where she was going, and why she was carrying the jelly, and so she voiced out just that

"What are you talking about? How do you know that jelly is not for me! I could be going to go make myself a peanut butter jelly sandwich!" Sakura said, trying to pull a fast one

"Don't play stupid, BB's always carrying around this stuff! You were so loud in the classroom, boasting about your connections to BB and L and how much closer to them you are than us! Do you think you better than us? You just get to be with them by flashing your underwear to them all the time! You whore! BB's always talking about it! We know you sleep with them! Who know, you might even be getting into Wammy's pants. That's probably why they let you sleep in that special building! You're no genius; you're just a born slut! You even dyed your hair like one!" Shizuki said as she went on and on

Sakura wasn't really listening; she'd covered her ears at the part where she'd started cursing and had a look of shock on her face

'She's saying bad words!' Sakura thought

Shizuki finally looked down from sticking her nose so up high in the air after her marvelous speech to look at what she expected to be a crying face. The girls in the group resisted the urge to laugh at her, and snickers could be heard here and there

Shizuki blushed in embarrassment and Sakura finally took her hands away from her ears to stare at Shizuki

"You said a bad word! If you keep that up, god is going to get you. God doesn't like a potty mouth, after all!" Sakura lectured as she wagged her finger at Shizuki.

The blush on Shizuki's face darkened, and she furrowed her brows as veins began pop out of her forehead

"GO TO HE-" Shizuki started before a soccer ball hit her square in the side of the face and she slid a couple feet away

Gasps could be heard around the group of girls that had came with her, and they quickly went to her side with "Are you okay?"s and "Does it hurt?"

"I TO~LD you so!" Sakura said in a sing-song voice, looking towards the fallen girl but keeping her distance

"Shizuki, do you wanna go to the nurse's office?" Asked a girl with pigtails

"Are you okay?" Asked another

An anger mark appeared on Shizuki's head as she lashed out

"Of course I'm not okay! My face is getting swollen! I can't let any of the boys see me like this!" Shizuki screached

"Too late for that!" Said a voice playfully

* * *

**A/N: O~Oh, who can it be? **

**Sorry for taking so long to update, but because of my laziness, I have decided to give you a gift! Another chapter!! Yeah!!! Hope you guys enjoyed spring break, too bad it's all over come Monday TT Least there's still the weekend. Anyways, enjoy!**


	5. smiles are contagious!

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Karin would be dead and Sakura would get more kick ass time. If I owned Death Note, none of the Wammy boys would have died. If I owned Naruto AND Death Note, there would be crossover Sakura pairings **

* * *

Sakura turned around and was met with sea blue eyes and sun colored blonde yellow locks. He wore a monochromatic black v-neck, long-sleeved shirt and pants. She stared at him and blinked

"Damn you Mello! I should've known it was you, you stupid prick! Apologize!" Shizuki screamed with a swollen cheek

Mello laughed

"I thought you were a rabid dog, but your right, I should apologize, it's insulting to dogs!" Mello said as he held his gut from laughing so hard

He then felt a slap at the back of his head

Now he was pissed

He turned an angry gaze at the perpetrator and found himself face to face with a pink haired girl with fiery green eyes

"What your problem? Weren't these girls just picking on you?" Asked Mello

"That doesn't give you any right to hit someone! They weren't hitting me!" She said

Mello looked at her incredulously

"Do you know Shizuki at all? She looked pissed! It was obvious she was going to hit you! I saw the whole thing!" Mello said

"You can't say that for sure! You never know, she could've ended up saying she was sorry and we could've all ended up being friends and sharing secrets and staying over each others rooms and-" Sakura started before she was violently cut off by a

"NO WAY IN HELL!" By the group of girls

Sakura sweat dropped and smiled nervously

"It's so much more fun to play with others though!" She tried

"You're an idiot! And you know what? I didn't even do that for you! I just did it because Shizuki's bitching was giving me a headache." Mello said

"Oh! You said a bad word! That's bad luck!" Sakura said

Mello's eyebrow twitched

'Is she for real? I know she's four but, can anyone in this school really be that stupid?' Mello thought

"You're so weird forehead girl! I think your stupidity might be contagious, so I'm leaving!" Shizuki said as she and her group headed for the nurses office

Sakura gave the girl a smile, ignoring her earlier comment

"I hope you feel better! I read in a book once that it's good to put ice on that type of bruise to stop the swelling! Good luck!" She said, waving her off, her eyes crinkled upward with her bright smile

"Stop being nice! I hate you! You're an enemy to all us fan girls, go die!" Said Shizuki as she looked back at her, her eyebrow twitching maddeningly

"Don't worry! I won't give up! We'll be good friends someday!" Sakura replied, her smile still firmly in place

The girls could swear they saw an ethereal light surrounding her with twinkles here and there

"The light! It BU~RNS!!" They screamed as they ran away as though their lives depended on it

Sakura stared at their retreating backs questionably

"Did I do something wrong?" Sakura asked more to herself than anyone else

"Of course you did! What's wrong with you? Are you really that forgiving?" Mello asked

"There was nothing to forgive, they never laid a hand on me" Sakura replied plainly, staring at the boy

"They bad talked you! And you just sat there and took it! Aren't you mad?" Mello asked

He then smirked

"Or are you planning on getting them back later?" Mello asked

"Of course not, I just want to make friends with them! I think we could all get along and become really good friends once we got to know each other! She probably just got up on the wrong side of the bed! See? You don't know what others have been through so you have to be understanding of their personality!" Sakura said with a smile as she looked back to where the girls had run off to

"No, I've lived here all my life and she's always been like that…" Mello said with a bored look on his face looking in the same direction as her

'Wait, why the hell am I talking to this loser?' Mello asked himself as he looked down at the red ribbon wearing girl

Feeling his gaze cast down at her, Sakura looked up at him and smiled

"Why do you keep smiling?" Mello asked

"They say smiles are contagious, so I want to help spread it!" Sakura replied readily

Mello shrugged, no use arguing with her

"My name's Sakura, what's yours?" Sakura asked

"Weren't paying attention? A real genius should be more observant, Shizuki mentioned it earlier" Mello said

Sakura sweated nervously

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention" She said honestly

"Well I'm not saying it" Mello said as began to walk away, having already picked up his soccer ball

Sakura scampered on after him

"Wait!" She said as she tried to keep up with his fast pace

Mello walked faster, and Sakura sped up as well

"Hold on!" Sakura said

Mello then went full speed to try to get away from her and it had suddenly turned into a game of cat and mouse

* * *

Sakura chased him all the way to the back of the building, away from the bundle of kids playing in front of the school, where a tall tree served as shade from the sunny rays and Mello leaned against, panting and trying to catch his breath, his form slightly hunched over, hands on his knees

Sakura, all the while, was lying down, her back flat on the ground next to Mello with her hands and legs spread out. Small bead of sweat had gathered on her face and her eyes were shut tight as she tried to concentrate on catching her breath

"What are you, a professional athlete? Is that your major? You don't look any older than me, do you work out or something?" Mello asked

"I'm four, my major is a secret and back where I come from we would work out everyday!" Sakura said with a smile

"Four?! You're a year younger than me!" Mello said

Sakura blinked

"You're five?" Sakura asked

Mello didn't bother to respond as he began to walk away

Sakura quickly got up and tagged along right behind him

Of course, Mello noticed this and quickly grew annoyed

"What are you? My dog?!" He said as he turned around to face her

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed

"You haven't told me your name! I need something to call you so that we can be friends!" Sakura said

"I don't want to be your friend!" Mello said

"But I want to be your friend!" Sakura complained

"What, do you have a crush on me or something?" Mello asked with a smirk, pointing his nose high up in the air

"I just think you're cool! You may have been wrong about hurting that girl, but the way you kicked that ball was so cool! L and BB are good boy friends but they never want to play games with me, so if you become my boy friend too, we can play these types of games! I'd ask the girls but they don't seem like the type to play these types of games, she seemed really mad when she got hit so I doubt she'd have enough stamina, so we wouldn't be able to play with each other for long. But you were even able to outrun me! You're really good and I couldn't even tell the ball was coming right for her!" Sakura said

"Wait, wait, you're telling me L and BB are your boyfriends and you want me to be your boyfriend because they don't _**play**_ with you?" Mello asked

"Yeah!" Sakura said brightly, not getting the sexual innuendo in that sentence at all

Mello whistled

"Wow, you really are a dirty girl, and at such a young age too." Mello said

"Of course! I have to get dirty! I'll do anything to increase my stamina! It's never too young to start!" Sakura said

'I have to save Ino after all…' Sakura thought to herself, her outer gave of determination unwavering

"Is that why you dyed your hair?" Mello asked

'I heard prostitutes do that a lot' Mello added to himself

"No, no, no! It's not dyed! It's my natural hair color! Everyone keeps asking that, but I've never dyed my hair! And what does my hair have to do with training?!" Sakura asked

"Well, that brat Near also has funny colored hair so you might not be lying." Mello thought aloud

"Near? Who's that? Does he have good stamina too?" Sakura probed eagerly as she got into Mello's face

Mello waved his hand in front of him

"Don't even bother with that guy. You'd have better luck with a log." Mello said

Sakura sighed

"I've already tried practicing with a log, but it's no fun without anyone else around. It gets lonely" Sakura said

Mello's eye twitched maddeningly

"You did it with a log?!" He asked as he gave her an incredulous look

"Of course! A lot of people do it with logs where I come from!" Sakura said

"No wonder you're called Sakura, you have green eyes and pink hair like one, your mom probably did it with a log! You're the seed of a tree!" Mello said

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked looking at him like he'd snapped

Mello laughed

"I mean, I know it's impossible, but how do you even do it with a tree?!" Mello asked

Sakura eyes lit up

"I'll show you!" Sakura said

Mello blushed a deep shade of red as he looked left to right nervously

"Are you sure?! Someone might come and see you!" Mello said

"No, it's okay. I don't mind if anyone comes to see. I like people watching me, then I get to show off and I won't be lonely! I might even encourage them to join in!" Sakura said as she looked around the row of trees to find a particularly sturdy branch and two rocks to hold it up so she could break it in two to show her mad skills

"Aha! Found one!" Sakura said as she picked up a long, this and particularly pointy branch that had fallen from the tree

Mello gulped

"Are you seriously gonna use THAT one?!" Mello asked

Sakura smiled

"Of course! But I've gotta be careful, if I don't do it right it'll hurt!" Sakura said

"Hey, I was just kidding about the whole thing, I was just trying to look like a bad boy in front of you but I never thought you'd actually do it! I'm really inexperienced and I've never seen this kind of thing!" Mello said nervously

Sakura chuckled

"Don't worry; I'd never done it before either. I saw people doing it a lot in movies but I never actually did it until I got here. I even messed up a couple time!" Sakura said as she put the tall bricks on the floor and leveled the branch

A shock of realization struck him

'She's putting those bricks there, and since when do movies show this kind of stuff a lot?' It didn't take him long to put two and two together.

A vein popped out

'She tricked me! She seems all innocent but she purposefully put up those sexual innuendos! What a perverted girl!' He thought to himself

He smirked

She would eventually turn around and say something lie 'got you' or something. But of course, he'd caught on already, so he would just wait patiently until she stopped the little façade

She didn't

"Shannaro!" She screamed, and to his surprise, she split the branch in two

Mello's jaw dropped

"What the hell are you made of?!" Mello asked

"I told you, where I come from, we do this all the time, though they're a lot stronger, of course." Sakura said, satisfied with a jab well done

"Where did you live before here?! Karate temple?!" Mello asked

"Of course not! I lived in a ninja village!" Sakura said

Mello sighed and took out a bar of chocolate from his pocked. He unwrapped it and took a bite

'So she really didn't get the sexual innuendos. She's either a master at deception or completely innocent. Looks like she's got a thing for ninja movies too, what a weird girl, she's even got the pink hair to match her weirdness!' Mello thought

"Can I have some too?" Sakura asked

"No." Mello replied coldly

"Stingy" Sakura said as she stuck her tongue out at him childishly

"It's mine! Why should I give you something that's mine?" Mello said

"Because I showed you a super cool move?" Sakura asked

"You did that on your own, no one asked you to do it." Mello said as he turned around to walk away

"Goodbye Mr. Chocolate Man!" Sakura said cheerfully

"My name is Mello!" Mello said as he sharply turned to face her, anger ticks on his forehead with white anime eyes as he expected to see her laughing behind his back

He blinked as he saw her innocently looking at him. The anger marks disappeared from his face immediately at that and he stared at her

She then crinkled her eyes upwards with a bright smile and that same ethereal aura he'd seen earlier surrounded her

"Okay, Mello. Thank you for telling me your name, now we're not strangers anymore!" She said

Mello turned to face her fully and he couldn't help but give her a smile of his own

Her dress and locks of hair swayed in the wind, and Mello willed his legs to move towards the girl. One step after the other, he slowly made his way towards the girl as he dug in his pocket and pulled out a familiar object to him. When he reached the girl, he grabbed her hand from her side and placed the object in her palm before quickly letting go of her.

Sakura blinked and stared at the fresh, unopened chocolate bar that had been given to her by the young blonde

She looked up at him innocently and blinked again, as if to question him

He blushed and downcast his eyes to the side nervously

"I had an extra bar anyways, and I didn't want you to think I was stingy, but don't ever expect me to do this again, okay?" He explained as calmly as he could with his tinted cheeks as he stole a glance at Sakura

She smiled in that way she usually did with her eyes crinkled upward and a slight red tint to her cheeks as her mouth grew slightly a gap and she tilted her head to the side

Mello felt a strange warmth radiate off her and he soon found himself gently smiling too

He then turned and went to pick up his ball by the tree to go back to playing with the others. However, as he began to dash away, ball in hand, a voice stopped him

"Hey, Mello!" Said the girl

He looked back to show he was listening

"You see, didn't I tell you smiles were contagious?" Sakura chirped happily

Mello blushed and dashed away with the ball

Little did he know that Inner Sakura was cackling evilly

'**CHA! I RULE! I got him to tell me his name, play tag with me, watch my mad skills, give me his chocolate AND I proved him wrong about the smile thing! Maybe I do belong in this genius school after all?'** Thought Inner Sakura

On the outside, Sakura couldn't help the grin that slyly began to make it's way across her face at the feel of winning something

She looked down at her hand at the milk chocolate bar, perfect and seemingly untouched

'I rule' she thought to herself

It was then that heard the bell ring, signaling the end of recess

Her eyes widened

'I forgot to give BB his jelly!' She thought to herself, distressed as she looked to her side at the long forgotten jelly

She sighed

'No use crying over spilled milk. I'll give it to him later; right now I have to worry about getting back to class!' Sakura thought to herself as she picked up the jar and bolted off to class

* * *

**A/N: I don't feel like checking grammar, if you see any mistakes, please forgive my laziness 3 **


	6. Winning isn't everything

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Death Note**

* * *

Sakura rushed through the door just in time

To be smacked upside the head by her teacher

"You're late!" She said to her pink haired student as she tended to the anime bump now forming on her head. Tear ducts had started forming out of the corner of her eyes in pain as she looked up at the menacing form of her teacher with a ruler, her choice of weapon, at hand.

"That hu~rt!" Sakura whined as a certain group of girls snickered.

"You are fifteen minutes late! Where were you?!" Asked the teacher

'**It sounds more like a demand than anything else'** Inner Sakura commented

"You see, I was playing tag with someone and then we got REALLY far away from this class and I had to walk all the way back here, although I don't know how that kid got back to class, I mean, he's probably late too but-" Sakura began but was interrupted by her teacher sigh

"Just take a seat, Sakura" She said, rubbing her temples out of frustration

Sakura did as told and headed towards where she saw her friend Mitsuki on the last row of the class. On her way up, she saw Shizuki stick her tongue out at her

Sakura smiled and waved

Shizuki continued her actions, bringing down her lower eyelid with her middle finger

Sakura gasped and looked away, speeding up to sit next to her friend Mitsuki

Shizuki sweat dropped

As Sakura reached Mitsuki, she couldn't help but let her face break out into a smile, despite having just witnessed a really bad thing

Mitsuki was looking distantly out the window, propping her chin up with her hand

It wasn't long until Sakura broke her out of her daze with a hug

"W-what are you doing?!" Mitsuki asked

"I just wanted to hug my uber best friend! Thanks again for giving me the jelly!" Sakura said as she let go of her and took a seat next to her

Mitsuki's eyes crinkled up into a smile

"So, did you give it to him?" She curiously inquired

Sakura face immediately turned tearful

"I forgot" She said, holding out her jelly for Mitsuki to see

Mitsuki's face faulted and she feel back

"You idiot! What have you been doing all this time?!" Mitsuki screeched

A piece of chalk hit her forehead almost as soon as she'd said that

"Mitsuki! There will be no fooling around in my classroom!" The teacher said angrily

"Sorry teacher!" Mitsuki said and immediately sat back down

Sakura mouthed a word of apology to Mitsuki just as soon as the teacher had turned back around

Mitsuki sighed and shook her head side to side

Just then, a pen came flying at Sakura's hand that held the jelly

The pointy part hit her, not deep enough to cause blood, but enough to shock her into dropping the jelly

CRASH

"Ouch!!" Sakura cried holding her wounded hand and looking towards the direction the pen had come from. It had been one of the girls in Shizuki's group. Sakura had deducted that much by seeing the rubber band in her hand used to spring it at her. There was that, and the fact that they were snickering and high-fiving each other and patting the girl in the back

'**Shannaro! Time to kick butt!' **Screamed Inner Sakura, throwing air punches inside her mind

Sakura inwardly shook her head and turned to look at the teacher, giving her a look that demanded an explanation

"I'm sorry, it was an accident!" Sakura started

"She was eating in class, teacher! And she threw the jar on purpose to show off because she said your class was boring!" Screamed Shizuki as she stood from her seat

Sakura turned her gaze at the girls in shock

"Yeah! I saw it too!" yelled another girl, obviously a friend of hers

A collection of "Yeah"s could be heard throughout the room

"That's enough!" Said the teacher, silencing the class

"Sakura, I'm sure what happened was an accident" The teacher started, looking at her gently

Shizuki immediately jumped at this

"Are you calling me a liar?!" Asked Shizuki

"Yes, I am, I may not know much about Sakura, but I know you well enough to say that what you said was a lie. And your friends are always backing you up, so sit!" Said the teacher

Shizuki grumbled but obliged

Mitsuki snickered

"However! Food is not allowed out while I am giving my classes! You had enough time for that during lunch! Since this is your first offense, I'll let you off with a warning, but you still have to clean up the mess you've made!" The teacher said

Sakura nodded her head silently, a grim look on her face at being scolded by an adult for doing something bad

Mitsuki immediately stood

"But, it wasn't her fault! It's not fair!" She started

"Enough! I don't want to hear it! I just want to get through this class!" The teacher said, sighing yet again as a response to the pink haired girl

"Her first day here and she's already starting trouble…" She mumbled as Mitsuki sat back down

She looked up to see the girl staring sadly at the broken jar of jelly

"Well? Staring at it won't get it cleaned up! Go get some napkins! A sponge! A mop! A janitor! Something! I can't have glass in my classroom all day, now can I?!"

Sakura was immediately pulled out of her stupor and scampered away with a "Yes, ma'am!"

She exited through the door and the teacher sighed for the umpteenth time that day when she heard muffled laughs from a particular group of girls

She turned back at the class with a serious look'

"Well?! Have you solved the equations on the board yet?!" She asked

The kids immediately went back to work

* * *

Sakura was wandering the halls. She now had found a napkins from the girls bathroom, a sponge in an empty classroom, and now all she had to find was a janitor, a mop and something

Sakura sighed

She looked all over the building and she still couldn't find them. And what did the teacher mean by something? She really did want to be a good girl, but she wasn't even sure where she was at the moment.

'I think I'm lost!' Sakura thought helplessly with anime tears

There were so many doors, so she just randomly began opening them, hoping to find a source of human life. Now that she had gotten lost there, she'd realized just how big the place was. It was like a maze of doors!

Just as she was about to fall to the floor and start crying, she mustered up the strength to open one last door, and was shocked at what she saw.

The exaggerated amount of napkins and the lone, yellow sponge fell to the floor

"No way!" Sakura exclaimed

* * *

L was currently faced with a predicament

He had been busy raising Watari's funds and fooling around with that child that he'd forgotten one small thing

No, not forgotten, more like he'd found it too trivial a matter to even bother with it-a bath.

It was such a waste of precious time and effort that it wasn't even worth thinking about. He never even changed his own clothes; Watari always did it for him. Though he was quite particular about what he wore, after all, he needed something loose and comfortable, with pants strong enough to serve as a bit of protection to prevent scraped knees in case of a fall, thus the jeans. He had asked Watari to give him several duplicates of this set of clothes, and Watari had obliged. However, the stench was starting to get to Watari and he'd requested to meet with him to discuss this matter. L did like to keep himself clean, but he really didn't want to bother with something this trivial such as scrubbing his entire body. It was out of the question. So what could Watari be up to? Was he planning to bathe him himself from now on as well? Surely, it would solve the problem, but if so, why wait to tell him in a certain meeting area? Couldn't they have come to that agreement where they had spoken earlier?

No, it wasn't that at all. The fact that Watari had told him to meet him somewhere meant-

L smirked, biting his thumb in his hunched posture; he knew exactly what Watari was up to…

He then opened the doors to the room to be engulfed in light

"Welcome, L" Watari greeted

* * *

Sakura gazed in awe at what was before her. There was a boy in his PJ's playing with toys with his back faced to her. But that wasn't what was so fascinating to her. The really interesting part was the color of his hair!

"No way!" Sakura said as she dropped what she was carrying and walked up to the kid

He still hadn't turned around to acknowledge her, but she didn't mind

She grinned, outstretched her hand

Only to be squirted with a water gun

Sakura giggled

'Cool!' She thought

"Don't touch me; I don't know where your hands have been." Said the white haired boy, finally turning to take in the form of the pink haired girl

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself! It's the first time I've seen someone with strangely colored hair like me!" Sakura said, pointing towards her own head of hair

"Hmm…" He replied, suddenly getting the urge to twiddle with a strand of his hair

Sakura noticed this and decided to feel her own hair too

'So~ft…' Sakura thought, caressing her hair

"What is it that you want?" The boy asked continuing his puzzle

"Oh! Right! I'm lost…can you help me find my way back to class?" Sakura asked with a nervous smile and slightly tinted cheeks, embarrassed to admit she'd gotten lost

"No, I'd rather not leave this room; I'm doing something right now" Said the boy

Sakura nodded and took a seat next to him to get a better look at what he was working on

"No way!" She screamed

"You said that already." The boy commented, slightly annoyed

"Oh, sorry, it's just that, the puzzle you're working on, it's blank! How can you piece it together if you don't have a picture? What's more, you're starting from the middle! Wouldn't it be easier to do the sides first?" Sakura asked

"I like it this way" The boy said, hoping she'd stop talking with that

It didn't work

"Cool! So you're purposely making things difficult to challenge your skills and train harder, right?!" Sakura asked

"No, I just think the game would be over too quickly, with so many handicaps. Making it any easier would make the game pointless

'Easy?! I get stuck on those things for hours! And they're the color ones! Better sound like a genius though…' Sakura though

"Err, oh yeah, I get that feeling too! Heh heh, this stuff is childs play to me!" Sakura said nervously

The boy didn't respond, merely kept putting up the pieces to the puzzle. Not a pause between each one, as if he'd done this puzzle a million times before

Sakura watched on with amazement

The boy paused in his actions

"Why are you breathing over my shoulder? What are you even still doing here?" The boy asked

'Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself!' the pink haired girl as realization donned on her

"My names Sakura, what's yours?" Sakura said, outstretching her hand and completely ignoring his later question

"You can call me Near" The boy, now identified as 'Near' said

"Wow, it's the first time since I've been here that I've been introduced to someone normally! Wammy told me in the hospital, and then BB told me while I was leaving after becoming the house slave, I found out L's name while pinching his cheeks, I had to chase Mello down…-"

Near made a slight pause in placing a piece of the puzzle in, was it a coincidence she'd met the top students of the school? It seemed a bit suspicious to him, she must've purposefully done it

Near stared at the girl as she counted the people off in her hand

"-Mitsuki saved me, I found out Shizuki's name after she was picking on me, wait, now that I think of it, how'd BB know my name? Maybe Watari said something? Oh no! I don't even know my teachers name! Teacher? Jelly! BB! I totally forgot! Oh, she's going to be so mad with me!" Sakura thought

'Maybe not…' Near thought as he continued on with his game

All the while, Sakura was panicking in the background

"How am I going to get back? I'm going to be lost forever! My body will rot in some corner out of starvation and I'll never get to see Ino again!!" Sakura said, around the room in circles

A shock of realization then hit her

'Near! He'll help me!' Sakura thought as she ran towards the boy to beg for his assistance in her search for her classroom

Only to trip on a toy car and tumble towards Near

"Oof!" Sakura said getting up

She then notice Nears body, a couple inches in front of her, with his face in his puzzle, pieces scattered here and there, completely ruining it

She sweated nervously

"Umm, sorry, it was an accident! I didn't mean to-"

Just then, Sakura was squirted in the face, yet again, by his water pistol

"I lost the game" Near stated, blankly

Sakura wiped the water off her face before looking up at him

"You didn't lose! You did it really good! If it hadn't been for me, you could've won!" Sakura declared

"If I lose a game, no matter how well the process, there's no meaning to it." Near said emotionlessly as sat back up and cleared the board to begin anew again

"That's not true! You gain experience and learn from your past mistakes, of course there's meaning to it! You would've won if it weren't for me!" Sakura defended

"Saying 'You could've won' doesn't change the fact that I lost" Near calmly replied, twirling a strand of his hair

"You didn't lose!" Sakura retorted defiantly

"I'm not calling you a loser; I'm calling myself one, so why are you being so defensive about it? Could it be because you yourself are one as well?" Near asked airily, not really caring if she answered or not

"Of course I've lost before! Everybody loses at some point in their lives! But that didn't make me a loser! What makes you a real loser is if you don't learn anything from your mistakes and don't try again!" Sakura said

"Starting over and trying again can produce a different result, that's true, but it doesn't affect the fact that you had originally lost the game. You're a loser, and just because you're trying again doesn't mean you'll be able to erase the past." Near said, placing another blank piece of the puzzle into place

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed

"Winning isn't everything! It's how you play the game! If we're playing 'go fish' and I cheat, I'll win, but it'll take away the whole point to playing the game in the first place, which is to have fun!" Sakura said innocently

"How old are you?" Near said as a comment towards her childish way of thinking rather than an actual question

She didn't get it

"I'm four! How old are you?" Sakura said, instantly changing her mood with a bright smile

"You're the same age as me…" Near muttered more to himself than the girl

Again, this went by unnoticed by Sakura

"Awesome! Not only do we both have strangely colored hair, but we're also the same age!" Sakura said as she did her happy dance

Near paid her no mind and went back to his game

Sakura stopped and shook her head

'This won't due! I've gotten off topic!' Sakura thought

"Don't stray off topic! I'm telling you that losing doesn't necessarily make someone a loser! You wouldn't sell your friends just to win, would you?!" Sakura demanded

Near eyed a particular piece of the puzzle with a blank face

"It all depends on the prize…" He replied calmly

Sakura's eyes widened

"Then again, I wouldn't have any friends to sell out in the first place" Near began as he placed the puzzle piece he'd previously been eyeing in its place

He didn't hear a reply, and curiously turned around half expecting a punch from the fiery pink haired girl

She was silently crying and staring at him with sorrowful eyes

"Crying wont help you win this discussion" Near said, completely unaffected by the girls' tears

She got up, and began walking up to him

"You're not going to hug me now, are you? If you touch me, I'll-" Near started, having guessed what she was about to do based on what he'd learned about her personality. It wasn't that hard to do, after all, she was an open book. How could she so carelessly display her emotions on her face? He was starting to get slightly irritated by the girl

"-Isn't it lonely...?" Sakura started, staring at him with watery eyes

Near stared at her blankly

"I like being alone" Near responded

Before he could stop her, she did exactly what he'd previously told her not to do

She hugged him.

Near stared at the girl with emotionless eyes, contemplating whether he wanted to push her away or not.

"You'll never be lonely again, because from now on, I'll be your friend!" Sakura declared

"I don't want to be your friend, didn't you just hear me? I like being alone" Near said, slightly moved by her words. He was beginning to feel very conscience of her presence, and a faint blush had begun forming on his cheeks. He'd never had anyone hug him like this before, so it was only logical to get this type of reaction, especially since she was a girl proclaiming her friendship to him.

"No one likes to be alone! When I didn't have any friends, it felt so painful! I never want anyone to feel that way! So even if you say you don't want my friendship, I'm still going to give it to you!" Sakura said, gripping his shirt and burying her face into his chest

Near stared at the pink haired girls head for a while, before looking away

"Fine" He muttered

Sakura looked up with sparkling eyes and a broad smile on her face

* * *

**A/N: I was wondering, do you guys (the readers) know who BB is? His name is Beyond Birthday, and a friend read this for me and asked who BB was, so I was wondering if the fans know who he is, because he really is a character in the Death Note series. He appeared in Death Note: Los Angeles BB Murder case. So if you guys don't know who he is, please say something! Better yet, here's a link! **

http://deathnote (dot) wikia (dot) com/wiki/Beyond_Birthday

**He's an awesome character, and it'd be a shame if you guys didn't know anything about him and were reading my story. He useto live at Wammy's House and was one of L's succesors, right behind A. The link above provides his profile (Just remove the spaces and put dots where I mentioned ^^)**


	7. L's first erection!

**Disclaimer: i do not own Death Note OR Naruto**

* * *

"Really?" She asked joyfully

"Yeah, now get off of me, you soaking my shirt" Near said, still not looking her way

"Oh, sorry!" She said as she let go of him

She then grinned

"One more thing" She said, and reached up to feel his pale, white short locks of hairs

Near snapped his head in her direction, and she gave him a look of awe

"No wonder you were touching it earlier…It's so soft!!" Sakura said

Goosebumps soon appeared on Near at the feel of her massaging his scalp, and he shivered

He resisted the urge to lean into it more, and simple settled with staring at her

His time with her was cut short when a loud ringing noise filled the air and a look of shock graced her features

Her hand slipped out of his hair, and Near almost immediately found himself yearning for her to touch him again, like a puppy would with his master

"Oh no! I'm going to be in so much trouble! I forgot to clean up the mess I made!" Sakura screamed, making a dash to the napkins and sponge lying forgotten on the floor

She picked them up, swung the door open and-

"Sakura, do you know how to get back?" Near asked

Sakura froze, then turned around, laughing nervously

"Can you take me, please?" She asked, looking at him apologetically

Originally, he would've refused, but decided to go with the bright young girl. For some reason, he didn't want to be left alone by her anymore, he wanted to stay with her for as long as he could, and helping her find her way back would give him the perfect excuse. He wanted to find out what classroom she'd been assigned so that he might cross paths with her again. After all, they hadn't found out who's won the argument. And Near was not particularly fond of losing.

"Alright" He said, standing up and walking towards a shocked Sakura

"Really? Thank you so much! I would've been wandering around everywhere if it weren't for you!" Sakura said

"What room number is it?" Near asked

"Room number? Oh, I don't remember…" Sakura trailed off, trying to think of what she could remember about the place so that she could explain it to Near

He finally reached her, and proceeded with his next question

"What's your teachers name?" He asked, twirling a strand of his hair

"Umm, I just called her teacher, so, I wouldn't know!" Sakura chirped with a smile, expecting him to get where it was magically, after all, he was a genius, right?

"Do you at least remember which direction you came from?" Near said

'What a useless woman!' Near thought, but kept his outward calm façade

Sakura nodded vigorously

"Yes! It's that way!" Sakura said, pointing left

"And the teacher's a girl! And she has long brown hair, tied in a high ponytail, with square glasses, and she's not old or wrinkly!" Sakura tried to explain

Near stared at her intensely, a dark aura surrounding him

Sakura's smile remained unwavering, a light seemingly emanating from her, overpowering Near's negative energy

He finally looked out the door and into the hall

"Well, standing here isn't getting us anywhere, let's go" Near said, walking through and towards the direction she had pointed out

Sakura nodded and walked out as well, her equipment in one hand, quickening her footsteps to catch up to Near

He stole a quick glance at her once she was walking alongside him, and then looked back up ahead

Sakura noticed this, and grinned, as she reached out to grab Nears hand, hanging beside him

Once contact was made, Nears head shot back at Sakura with slightly widened eyes, giving her a shocked look

Her smile remained unwavering, as always, and continued holding his hand

Near's face relaxed and he looked up ahead, a tiny face adorning his cheeks as he began twirling a strand of his hair with his unoccupied hand, tightening his grip on hers with his other

After all, he liked the contact he had with her…

* * *

A lone puzzle board lay unfinished and forgotten on the floor of an empty room, toys thrown astray around it, along with a water gun.

There was one piece missing to complete it, lying carelessly next to it

* * *

"Y-you! What the hell do you think you're doing Near?!" A certain blonde haired boy screeched, pointing an accusing finger at him, holding Sakura's hand

Said boy was blankly staring at a particular strand of hair he was currently twirling around with his fingers, seemingly oblivious to the rest of the world

This irritated the blonde haired boy more

Sakura was just staring up at him innocently. Near had found the classroom, but everyone had left, and the mess had already been cleaned up. Well, everyone had left but one blonde haired boy, which brought them to their current situation

"What are you taking about Mello?" Near asked, playing stupid

He knew exactly what he was talking about. It was hard to miss, he kept pointing at the place where he and Sakura were holding hands. It obviously irritated him, but Near was slightly curious as to why, he had a hunch though…

"Don't play dumb!" Mello said, infuriated at the fact that Near wasn't even looking at him while he talked to him, as if he were a mere child, when in fact, Mello was older than Near

Sakura chose this time to cut in

"Hi Mello! Thanks for the chocolate earlier!" She said, trying to lighten the mood, completely oblivious to why they were fighting in the first place

Mello turned a shocked look at Sakura, and near took this time to look at Mello

"Chocolate?" Near probed with a smile

Mello glared at Near and Sakura stared in awe at Near

"Oh! You smiled! I was starting to wonder if you didn't like smiling or something!" Sakura said, flashing a smile of her own

"I didn't give her my chocolate! She's lying!" Mello said defensively

"What? Yes you did!" Sakura said

"Mello wouldn't give just anyone his precious chocolate" Near pitched in

"I didn't give it to her, I let her borrow it! I was playing soccer and it would've been smashed if I fell, she was just holding it for me!" Mello said

'That's not what he said…' Sakura thought, but decided not to argue with him any further, after all, he was probably lying for a reason. Plus, they were friends! For whatever reason, she couldn't let Near find out she'd been given the chocolate!

"Oh yeah, I remember now! Sorry!" Sakura said

"The bell rang before I could get it back, so I came to her class to come and get it." Mello said, going along with the lie smoothly. This gave him the perfect excuse for coming to her classroom; after all, his chocolate was very precious to him

"Is that so…" Near said emotionlessly

"Wow! Did you find my class by calculating the numbers in the space time continuum or something?" Sakura asked with hopeful eyes, I mean, she was around geniuses' right? So it had to be something fancy like that, right?

Near stopped twirling his hair and turned to look at the girl

Mello looked at her stupidly, with an 'are you an idiot?' look plastered on his face

"Errr…no. I just asked around for a pink haired midget in bright red clothes and they gave me the classroom number…" He said

"Hey! I'm not a midget! I'm four! I'm supposed to be short!" Sakura said indignantly

Mello stuck out his hand, expectantly

Sakura stared at it and asked the most obvious thing

"What?"

"My chocolate bar, please" He said

Sakura sweated nervously

She gave a smile

"You see, what had happened was, I got lost and I was hungry since I didn't eat lunch and so, you see, I didn't think I was ever going to be found ever again and my tummy was grumbling and I still had the chocolate in my pocket and I tried to resist and until the hunger became unbearable I-" Sakura started

"You ATE my chocolate?!" Mello said

Sakura stuck her tongue out, giving him an apologetic smile, even though she was in all her right to eat it, after all, that's what chocolate bars are for, right?

"Sorry" She said

Near wasn't buying any of it

"Well, I don't see any more reason for me to be here, I'm going to my room" Near said

"Oh, was that your room back there?" Sakura asked

"No, the dormitory is on a different floor" he said, walking away. Mello might question his reason for being there if he stuck around for too long, and he didn't feel like explaining it to him

Mello's lower eye lid twitched as he watched near make his exit, trying to look all cool and whatever

"Whatever" He said, and turned to walk the opposite direction, Sakura didn't know which one to follow after, so she just shrugged and decided to go home after bidding farewell to her friends

"Goodbye Near! Goodbye Mello!" She said, turning to each one as she said their name

Mello snapped his head around

"Why does Near go first?" He said, peeved at being beaten by Near again

"Well, Near started walking away first, so the longer I waited to say goodbye to him, the further away he'd get!" Sakura said, trying to explain her own logic to him as best as she could

"You still owe me chocolate, so don't forget to get me some!" Mello said, turning his head back around and storming off

Sakura laughed nervously

"Okay!" She said, before heading home

* * *

"I'll bring you your clothes, L" Watari said, leaving his to his own devices

L's owlish gaze stared at what stood before him, his back hunched

He bit his thumb, this would be useful…

* * *

Sakura arrived home and the first thing she decided to do was get another jar of jelly. To her dismay, there was none in the refrigerator

She sighed

"What am I going to do now?" She asked herself

"Do about what?" A voice asked

She turned around, and watched as a hand reached into an opened jar of jelly and took out a big scoop of jelly

Sakura grinned, and watched as BB licked the jelly off his fingers. If anyone else were to see him doing that, she was sure they'd have fainted, but of course, Sakura had grown accustomed to the jelly loving boy

"Do you know where Watari is?" She asked, elated that he hadn't run away from her yet, as he'd started to do recently

It didn't last long, as he dropped his gaze from her

Sakura face twisted into a look of hurt to see this, which went by unnoticed by BB

She regained her happy façade and smiled brightly for him

"He said he'd be in room 303" BB said, continuing to lick his jelly covered fingers

Sakura nodded silently, and left, determined to reconcile with him only after having bought him a special jar of jelly

* * *

Sakura burst through the door of room 303, expecting to find Watari

To her disappointment, the room was empty

"Where's Watari?" She asked herself

She stepped into the room and got a better look around, there was a humming noise, and Sakura found the source to be what seemed to be a washing machine

She bent down and looked into the round window, and squinted her eyes to get a look at what was inside. There was a lot of water and-

Her eyes widened

There was a boy sitting in there! And not just any boy at that, it was-

"L!" Sakura screamed, tears immediately streaming down his face. She began banging on the window to get his attention, and he turned his head to look at her with his owlish gaze

"You're drowning! Don't worry! Just hold on for a little bit longer! I'll save you!" She said, petrified at the thought of losing a friend

She stood up and tried to look for an off button, but couldn't find one. She was running out of time, and had to think fast, so she just started trying to open the handle.

Finally, it opened, and Sakura fell back flat against the floor as water came rushing at her with L falling atop her

Sakura's eyes fluttered open, and she looked up to see L staring down at her blankly, thumb in his mouth and back hunched over, as always

Sakura's eyes began to fill with tears of happiness, and she pounced on him, burying her face in his chest

"I was so scared! I thought you were going to die!" Sakura said against his bare skin, slightly muffled. She hugged him tightly, crying

L could feel her salty tears on his chest as he stared down at her quivering form

Having deduced what was going on, he decided she wasn't a threat, he doubted she even knew the position she was in.

"Ahem" Came a voice at the door

L and Sakura looked up in unison

"I've brought you your clothes, but I can see that you're busy, L" Watari said, knowing full well it wasn't what it seemed but deciding to tease them a little

L didn't fall for it, as expected

"Yes, thank Mr. Wammy. Unfortunately, the washing cycle was uncompleted" L responded dully

Sakura stared at L questionably

"What are you talking about? You were in the washing machine on purpose? You could've died!" Sakura said

"It's not a washing machine, it's my personal invention, the 'human washer' complete with drying functions" Watari explained

"Why doesn't he take a bath by himself?! He's not incapacitated!" Sakura screamed in outrage

"Yes, well-" Watari started

"I can't trouble myself over such trivial matters." L said

"It's just like getting changed! It just has to be done! Nobody's going to do it for you!" Sakura tried to explain

"Yes, getting changed is also a trivial matter, which is why I have Watari do it for me." L said

Sakura's eye twitched

'**What a spoiled little brat!'** Inner Sakura thought

"You can't spoil him like that! He has to learn to do things on his own!" Sakura said as she turned her head to look at Watari

As they proceeded with their discussion, L took the time to look down at his member. Sakura sitting was in between his legs and he was naked, so her knee would occasionally rub against it. It was starting to rise as if of its own accord, though it didn't feel as good when he touched it. To test it, he began to poke at it. Yes, he deduced, it most definitely felt better when she touched it.

He knew that his experiment would be short lived. After all, the reason Sakura hadn't noticed his nakedness was because she only ever looked at people from the neck, up. Not to mention the stir of emotions of shock, fear, sadness and outrage she'd just experienced. He wondered how long it would take her to notice it. He didn't bother hiding the fact that he was staring at his member, so it was no surprise that when Sakura turned to look at his face, she followed his eyes to look at what he was staring at

She immediately pushed him back with all her might, looking away with a blush

"You pervert!" She screamed, got up, and ran away crying

L eventually sat up and bit his thumb, looking towards the door she had just left out of

"I'm a…pervert?" He said, turning his head to the side, giving himself the look of an owl

* * *

**A/N: There! All done!! Thinking about making a vid for SakuraxDeathNoteGuys, but not sure what song I should use, 'Check Yes Juliet' perhaps? *sigh* i wish i had Sony Vegas...TT **


	8. Bubble Bath Mishap!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Death Note**

**Authors Note: This is dedicated to my dear friend ****Gigicerisier! If it weren't for her, I would've never watched Death Note! ^^ Please enjoy, gigi-dana!**

**To: ****I am with Vampires and Wolves **

**Yeah, that's what I was planning on doing. That's why I called the story "The prelude" It's a prequal to my next story^^ But thanks for the suggestion anyway! *hint* I wouldn't be surprised if Light fell for a certain pink haired girl as well ^^and I chose to make them kids because that's when everyone would be most OOC to do the things they do in my story. If you really feel weird about it though, I don't suggest you read this chapter. It's got a pretty weird situation in it ^^**

**To: jaden90610 **

**No way! You found my DeviantART account!! Awesomeness!!!**

**To: My Loyal readers!!**

**Thank you all for reading my story, and sorry for the delay on this chappie! I've been drawing a couple pics on DA account for this story, since I feel there aren't enough SakuraxDeathNoteGuys, but since I have no idea how to use photoshop or mangastudio, they aren't really that good TT oh well, ON WITH THE STORY!!**

* * *

Sakura didn't get far before she slipped and on her soapy shoes and fell face first onto the cold, hard floor. A thump reached L and Watari's ears and the latter calmly walked to her side

"Ow…" came a groan from Sakura as she sat herself up and tended to her now red forehead.

"You're both covered in soap, how about a bath?" Watari asked, looking down at Sakura gently

She looked up at him and blinked

"A bath?" Sakura questioned dumbly

L took this opportunity to poke his head out of the doorway and look down the hall towards the fallen girl, a finger in his mouth

* * *

SPLASH

"WAAAAH!! I don't like this! I don't like this!" Sakura screamed as she looked up at Watari, tear ducts forming out of the corners of her eyes.

She was sitting in a tub filled with warm soapy water, trying her best to hide her body beneath the bubbles. But that wasn't the real problem here. L was next to her. And they were both naked.

"Sakura, I'm leaving you with the responsibility of bathing L." Wammy said calmly, completely ignoring her distress

"I'm not supposed to let anyone see me naked though!" Sakura cried out

'Mommy said so!' She mentally added

"Why?" L probed

Sakura blinked as she looked at L

"Why?" Sakura repeated

She proceeded to putting on a thoughtful expression

This didn't last long, however, as she shook her head and put on a determined face

"The 'why' doesn't matter! We'll learn it when we're older!" Sakura said, repeating what her mother had once told her upon being asked that same question

**FLASHBACK**

"**You got that Sakura? Only mommy gets to see you like this or you're disowned!" **

**END FLASHBACK**

'I DON'T WANT TO BE DISOWNED!' Sakura screamed in her head

"Well, I'm not bathing myself. It's a complete waste of time. And as I see it, it's your fault I wasn't able to complete the washing cycle. You're obliged to bathe me." L said calmly

"Wha~t?! I thought you were drowning!" Sakura said defensively

"However earnest your actions may have been, the results were the same, or do you plan on not taking responsibility for the consequences of your actions?" L said

Sakura froze

"What about you?! You were undressed and touching the bad place in front of me!" Sakura snapped

"Bad place? If it were bad, we wouldn't have it. And you wouldn't have seen me naked if you hadn't interrupted my bath." L retorted

Sakura stared, and put on a pensive look

'Well, I guess he's right. But then why did mommy say it was bad? Was it all a lie?' Sakura thought

**FLASHBACK**

"**Sakura, if you eat watermelon seeds a watermelon will grow inside of your stomach" A tall woman said to a certain pink haired child as they ate their watermelon slices, an evil smile on her face**

"**Really?!" Sakura said, her eyes twinkling with joy **

**She then proceeded to chomping through the juicy watermelon and swallowing all the seeds**

**Sakura's mom sweat dropped**

"**What are you doing?" She finally asked**

"**I'm eating the seeds so that I can grow a lot of watermelons and have them all to myself!" Sakura said with a grin, blotches of pink watermelon juice on her giant, white shirt. **

"**You know, if the watermelon gets too big, your stomach will explode." Sakura's mom said**

**Sakura stared up at her innocently**

**Sakura's mom stared back**

**Sakura blinked**

"**Can I eat the watermelon again when it's outside of my stomach?" Sakura asked**

"**You'll die" Sakura's mom deadpanned**

**Sakura instantly began trying to choke back out the seeds as her mother laughed at her suffering**

**Eventually, she was told she'd been lied to**

**END FLASHBACK**

'I wouldn't put it past her…' Sakura thought

"Is this to say that you wouldn't rush to my aid if I were dying on the floor just because you were naked? There are situations in life where you have to look past your own pride and dignity for the sake of others" L said

He sighed and put on a hurt look

"And here I thought you were my friend…" L said

Sakura's eyes widened and she rushed to his side of the tub, holding his hand and looking at him with fire and determination in her eyes

"I'd never turn my back on a friend! I'll definitely help you, L! Even if I have to break the rules! I'd never betray you!" Sakura said with newfound courage, inspired by L's words

Watari sweat dropped as he watched L manipulate things to his liking. Was it really safe to leave Sakura with him? Then again, Sakura had to learn to be more comfortable with situations like these. She wouldn't always be able to choose the circumstances of things, so emotionally preparing her for it now would be good. Additionally, they were children, thus not fully developed. It was okay for children to bathe together, right? What was the worst that could happen?

With that thought in mind, Watari exited the room, their wet articles of clothing in hand, heading for the washing machine.

He would come to regret this decision

* * *

Once Watari exited the room, Sakura began her preparations. She grabbed two scrubs from the side of the tub and lathered one in soap, handing the other one to L.

"Alright L! First you lather the scrub in soap, like this!" Sakura said, as if she were talking to a child, which she was, but only in physical terms.

L stared at her blankly

"Idiot" He muttered

Sakura's eyebrow twitched maddeningly

"Why am I an idiot?! I'm teaching you!" Sakura said

"I know how to bathe; it's just too trivial a matter for me to do myself. I told you already, you bathe me." L said

"Don't be so spoiled! As your friend, I'm going to teach you how to do things on your own and bring that pride of yours down a couple notches!" Sakura said

"You just accepted to bathing me a minute ago. You were lying?" L said

"No, I agreed to help you, which is a completely different thing! Watari and I aren't going to be here forever! You have to do things on your own, even if it IS trivial!" Sakura said

"Are you wishing your and Watari's death?" L asked

Sakura froze

"No! That's not what I meant!" Sakura defended

"That's what it sounded like…" L trailed off

"I just want you to become a bit more independent!" Sakura said

"Because you'll die soon?" L asked

"Of course not!" Sakura said

"Good, because it'd be a shame if my first friend were to die so fast" L said

Sakura froze at L's words for the umpteenth time that day

She smiled

'He really does care about me! Maybe just this once wouldn't be so bad?' Sakura thought to herself, as she put her own scrub down and grabbed L's from his hand

"Alright, but I'm not scrubbing in the bad place! And next time you have to do it on your own!" Sakura said

L resisted he urge to smirk in triumph as Sakura began scrubbing his arm, suds blowing in the air here and there

She was truly amusing

"Hey, L! Look! I have a beard!" Sakura said, as she gathered suds together around her chin

She smiled as he tilted his head to the side

"It looks nothing like a beard." He said truthfully

"You've gotta use your imagination!" Sakura said, splashing him with water

L instantly winced and slapped his hands to his eyes

"The soap got in my eyes!" L complained

Sakura instantly put on a look of concern

"Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean it!" Sakura said

Tears began to leak out of the corners of his eyes as he attempted to open them

"No way! You can cry?!" Sakura asked, in disbelief

L turned on the faucet and cupped his hand beneath the running water to gather water to rinse out the soap

"I'm not crying, it's my body's natural response" L said, regaining his composure as he splashed clean water into his eyes

"I was starting to think geniuses never cried." Sakura said with a smile

"You sure cry a lot." L commented

"Yeah, but I'm not-" Sakura's eyes widened

"-that is to say, I'm not on the same level of genius as you, so I really don't count! I'm talking about GENIUS geniuses, like you and BB!" Sakura tried to make a save, waving her hands in front of her

L resisted the urge to smirk

He'd known for a while now that Sakura wasn't supposed to be in that orphanage. It hadn't taken him long to realize she wasn't a genius, but he kept quiet about it. After all, he couldn't have his puzzle taken away from him before he'd finished solving it, right? And he'd yet to figure out many things of this strange, pink-haired girl. For instance

"Is that really the color of your hair?" L asked, biting his thumb as he watched Sakura play with the bubbles

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows

'Why does everyone ask me that?' She thought

"I'm not telling!" She said, annoyed at having to answer that question so many times

"I order you, as my slave, to tell me." L said

'Oh yeah, I had forgotten about that.' Sakura thought

"Unless you don't want to earn my friendship anymore, in which case-" L said

"No! Of course I want to be your friend! It's definitely the color of my hair! I just don't like answering this question a lot because where I come from, people don't seem as freaked out by this color. Actually, I've seen a lot of people with red hair, purple hair, blue hair, yellow hair, and even green hair! It's not weird at all!" Sakura said

"Where you're from?" L probed

"Yeah! I live in a ninja village!" Sakura chirped

L sighed

'Here we go again…' L thought, resisting the urge to roll his eyes

* * *

L and Sakura were finally squeaky clean; they had come out of the bathroom and entered an empty bedroom when-

"L, why does you bad place look different from my bad place?" Sakura asked, all previous sense of decency thrown away

"I was planning on reading up on the human anatomy after today's events, but from the information I've gathered, I know that you touching my 'bad place' causes it to pleasurably pulsate, harden, and rise. These symptoms, however, strangely do not occur when I myself touch this area." L said, a thumb in his mouth as he stared down at his cloth covered groin

"So, am I supposed to have one of those too? Am I weird?" Sakura asked, beginning to panic at the possibility of not being normal

L shrugged

"Maybe you'll grow one when you get older." L commented

"Were you like me when you were my age?" Sakura asked, looking down nervously at her own towel covered 'bad place'

"No, I most definitely had at least something like this there ever since I can remember. Lie down on that bed over there and I'll inspect you." L said, pointing to the large bed in the center of the room

Sakura looked at him, uncertain

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked diffidently

"Of course." L said, inwardly smirking at how Sakura could be so easily manipulated. After all, this was the perfect chance to inspect a live specimen

* * *

Watari slowly walked towards where he knew Sakura and L would be, a pair of fresh, clean outfits in his hands and a certain dark haired boy at his tail

"I come here to ask you to buy me more jelly and find out that Sakura's bathing with L?! How could you even consider that to be a possible option?! Are you insane?! He might rape her!" BB fumed

Watari sighed

BB had caught him carrying L and Sakura's clothes, and it didn't take him long to extract the information from him, not that he was hiding it.

"Now, now, L wouldn't do such a thing." Watari said, arriving at the door

BB glared daggers at the man, and unbelievable amount of rage building within him

Watari turned the knob and the door swung open to reveal a horrific sight

BB watched as Watari's gaze twisted into one of shock, the clothes in his hands carelessly dropped to the floor

He tore his gaze away from the accursed man to see a most unfavorable scene

Sakura was lying down on the edge of a bed, her legs spread wide apart as she stared at BB through teary eyes and a sorrowful gaze. L was standing between her legs, biting his thumb and pushing a leg to the side, his head tilting to the as he memorized her womanhood

He didn't stand there for long, however, as a certain black haired boy suddenly pounced on him, pushing him to the floor and choking him with a sadistic grin

"I'm going to kill you" He said menacingly, holding his neck in a death grip

He didn't stay on top for long however, as L kicked him in the groin

BB's grip momentarily loosened, and L took this chance to roll on top and punch BB.

They continued to roll around on the floor, kicking and punching each other as Watari asked Sakura what was going on

"L looks different from me! I'm a freak!" Sakura said tearfully as hugged Watari and cried into his suit.

"Now, now, you're not a freak. You're normal." Watari reassured

"But then why does L look different?" Sakura asked

Watari sighed

This was going to be a long day

* * *

After assuring Sakura that she was normal, separating L and BB before they killed each other, scolding L and telling Sakura to never let anyone see her like that again, Watari was finally able to have some peace and quiet

He was now sitting in his office, in his large, comfy chair, sipping his lovely, warm, jasmine tea.

SLAM

"I demand L be immediately ejected from this house!" BB screamed

Watari felt the urge to cry

L and Sakura trailed behind him

L was biting his thumb and grinning at Sakura as innocently looked on at Watari

BB, of course, noticed this and snatched Sakura to his side, glaring viciously at L

Ah yes, he'd forever regret the day that he'd allowed L and Sakura to bathe together

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, yeah, they're young and whatever but meh *shrugs***

**Matt's coming in the next chappie!! ^^ Go Matt!!**


	9. A Promise is A Promise

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**To: ****xBlackCherryBlossomx**

**Thanks for making that SakuraxCross-Over group on deviantart!! ^^ finally, a place for me and Gigicerisier to display our love for the Death Note guys and Sakura x-over pairings!! **

**Oh, and if your reading this Gigi, Hi!!! *waves* :D**

**To: My loyal readers**

**Thank you so much for sticking with my story, even though I went on my mini vacation thingy *cries* I luv you all!!! **

***HandsEveryoneCookies***

**Now, without further adue…ENJOY!! **

* * *

"So, did you hear?" A girl sitting behind Sakura in class said.

Her ears perked.

"About what?" said another, sitting next to the speaker

"He's beat his own top score on that awesome game!"

"No way! That game is extremely difficult!"

"Yeah, I know, right? But I hear it's the most fun you'll EVER have playing it!!"

Now, Sakura was a good girl, and good girls didn't eavesdrop on other peoples conversations, but this was different. Or at least that's what she told herself

'Most fun I'll EVER have? Even more fun than jump rope and hide and seek and getting to lick the spoon after mama bakes sweets?! No way!' Sakura thought to herself

"I heard he's been playing a lot recently out by the basketball court! Want to go see him?"

"Kyaaa!! He's such a hottie! I'm definitely going!"

Unbeknownst to Sakura, she had unconsciously been leaning her chair back to better her hearing. It became blatantly obvious to her, though, when her chair clattered to the floor. She bonked her head on the table behind her and, in a futile attempt to save herself from the harsh, cold floor that would inevitably meet her skull, she reached out atop the desk to grab hold, only to have her hand slip, successfully sliding off the top of the tables contents which consisted of a few sheets of paper and a pen

All in all, it made for a very LOUD and UNGRACEFUL fall, and earned her the stares of her fellow classmates and a few snickers here and there

Anime tears formed as she held her precious head, a lump beginning to form

"Ouch-ouch-ouch, it hu~rts!" Sakura whined

"Was that freak-o listening in on our conversation?" One of the girls said

"What a weird girl…" The other said, giving her a look of disgust

Sakura tended to her quickly developing anime bump but soon felt a menacing aura behind her

It was the teacher

"Sakura! If you're done fooling around, I'd like you to solve the problem up on the board" She said sternly

Sakura beamed

'Now's my chance to show how smart I am! Mom DID say I was pretty smart for my age." Sakura thought to herself enthusiastically

The teacher handed Sakura the chalk, which Sakura gladly accepted, and she walked up to the board with determination

She sweat dropped when she saw the equation

'Why are there letters in this equation?! And what are those strange symbols?! What do I do?! What do I do?! What do I do?!' Sakura thought panicking

She guessed and wrote a forty-two beside the equals sign

She looked back, laughing nervously

"Ehehehe, tada…?" She said

"Very well done. However, next time I won't be so lenient as to give you such an easy problem." The teacher said sternly

'You think that was easy? Wait, I'm right?! No way!' Sakura thought to herself

'_**Shannaro! I rule! Luck is on my side!'**_ Inner Sakura thought

After that, Sakura spent the rest of the morning quietly; after all, she didn't want to get lunch detention. She was rather curious as to this super fun thing the girls were talking about earlier

* * *

Meanwhile, with L…

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" an enraged BB demanded to know as he stared at L's back, just about ready to pounce on him

He had wondered where the little miscreant had gone off to, and low and behold he was in Sakura's room. And he was currently holding her panties

'Strawberry panties, so cute…' BB thought with a faint blush

He shook his head

'Now's not the time to be thinking of such things!' He thought to himself

"Isn't it obvious? I'm helping her with her laundry." L lied, still not turning around to face him

He was, in truth, simply looking through her things as a means of research. She wore many red garments, which led him to conclude that she was very fond of the color red. After looking through her things, he was absolutely positive she did not belong in Wammy's House; she simply cared far too much over trivial things. Cuddly stuffed toys, frilly dresses and books on seemingly unrelated material such as cooking, sewing, and a book titled _History: For Dummy's_. Normally, one would have something in excess depending on their specialty. An excess amount of puzzles, an excess amount of movies, of sugar, treats, or books on a specific subject; there had to be _something_ that would signal a hobby or, dare he say it, an _obsession_. What was her forte? Computer science? Or was it mathematics? Alas, he had found none, or perhaps that was her plot all along? Perhaps she knew he'd think of searching her room while she was not there, and decided to make her room as regular as she could possibly make it. But what would she have to gain in keeping her specialty a secret? No, he couldn't just throw away that possibility; he'd have to keep it in mind.

Going back to the root of the problem, he had to ask himself-why was he so interested in learning more about her? He wouldn't beat around the bush, not in his mind at least; how would lying to himself benefit him? The lies had to be reserved for outsiders, not in the safety of his mind. He wanted to get closer to her, but before that, he had to make absolutely sure she was safe. This was why he wanted to learn more, or rather, _everything_ about her. He wanted to make her precious to him, or was she already? It would not matter, he reassured himself, if she meant him harm, he'd cut all ties with her.

All this thinking did not help him L in his current situation. He understood what he must look like to BB, especially after that one particular incident. He found it rather irritating that BB seemed to always interrupt his research, and it _was_ research, BB had just happened to walk in when he'd gotten to the drawer of Sakura's undergarments. Was it L's fault it happened to take a bit longer to inspect her underwear? Was it his fault the undergarments just happened to be the most crucial in understanding ones personality? Especially when money was at her disposal to choose whichever she'd like; would she get the cheaper ones? The nicer looking ones? The comfortable ones? Would she sacrifice comfort for appearance? Or the other way around? What of her priorities? So far, he'd found she preferred comfort, but it didn't stop her from getting childish designs on them (stars, strawberry's, polka dots and what-not); he'd even found a par of pumpkin panties (short puffy bloomers)! Did they even make those anymore? Alas, decency also played a very big role.

"Are you listening to me?!" BB raged on

So, could he be blamed for all this? The answer was simple; no, for he was justice, and as justice, he would place upon BB a befitting punishment for interrupting his research on the girl yet again.

"I hear you quite well, and as I've said before, I am merely aiding our dorm mate with the strenuous activity that is laundry." L said, stretching the hem of Sakura's panties; partly to test it, and partly to further irritate BB

"Such an obvious lie; you expect me to believe that?!" BB exclaimed, blushing bright red at L's actions.

L smiled eerily, biting the skin of his thumb

"And if I were lying, what would you do about it? What _could_ you do about it?" Came L's provoking reply

"I thought you'd never ask…" BB said with a menacing smile

* * *

The bell ringing signaled the beginning of lunch and Sakura was quick to her feet as she dashed to her friend Mitsuki to ask about the earlier conversation.

After getting the directions to the "basketball" court (_'Whatever that is'_ she thought) she grabbed her lunch box, dashed outside, took a couple turns and finally…

…got lost.

Not only did Sakura not know where she was, but there was no one around to ask, further proving the point that this was indeed NOT the basketball court, seeing how the basketball court would have to have been filled with raging fans (I mean, this WAS the best game EVER, right?)

In place of the hoards of fans, there were many trees and rose bushes, the faint scent calming her. And in place of screaming fans, she could only hear the chirping of the birds, the swaying of the trees and-

BIP BOP

Ah yes, the 'bip bop' of the creatures…

'_Wait, what?'_ Sakura thought, slightly taken aback

The sound of shoes folding grass unto soft dirt filled the air as Sakura made her way to the source of the noise. It didn't take long until she reached a certain red-haired creature with goggled eyes, gloved hands, a pair of boots, a striped shirt and comfortable looking pants.

"R-robot!!" Sakura exclaimed, pointing her finger at the boy

Said boy refused to let her interrupt his concentration, and remained outwardly unfazed

'_Will she leave?'_ He thought, hoping she'd run away from this 'robot'

"So cool!"

No such luck.

Sakura crouched down in front of the 'robot' grinning from ear to ear, until she noticed the tiny machinery he had in his hands. It was the bip-bopping thingy! And he was currently pressing the buttons on it, rather rapidly.

"Wow, is that your communications device you use to, um, communicate with other robots?" Sakura asked

'_What kind of weirdo have I encountered?_' Matt asked himself, never taking his gaze off his game.

"Hmm, can't you talk? How long have you been here? Are you lost?" Sakura asked

She took his silence as her answer

She smiled

"Don't worry! I'm lost too! It's nothing to be embarrassed about! It happens to me all the time! We just have to retrace our steps!" Sakura said

"Now, the way I came from was past some trees and some bushes…" Sakura thought as she turned around

She sweat dropped as a nervous laugh escaped her in hopes of covering up her stupidity

"But…there are trees and bushes everywhere…" She thought aloud

'_Almost at the new level…'_ Matt thought, trying to block out the girl

He saw the girl move towards him out of the corner of his eye, and soon the scent of cherry blossoms engulfed him as she sat beside him. He hadn't taken a look at her face yet, but he had registered colors of pink, red, and green out of the corner of his eye and he was tempted to look up; something out of the ordinary for him, especially as he played his game. Then again, everything in this picture was out of the ordinary. He'd thought for sure he'd fooled all his fans into going to the basketball court today; no one was supposed to have known where he was. He truly disliked being disturbed while playing his game. He felt like he was in a new world when he played his games, it was something he could put all his mind into and something he could always improve on; a better score, a better time, a new level unlocked. Video games had saved him from the boredom that was reality; he didn't know what he'd do with all his free time without them. With his video games, he felt like he was doing something progressive with his time as he watched his score go higher, as he saved princess Peach from Bowser, as he got to see what the next floor level of Icy Tower looked like. It was like he was in a new world, but the annoying screams of raging fans with comments like 'Go! Go! Go!' or 'You're almost there!' would make it more difficult to enter his own little world. Seriously, all he wanted was to play his video games, he didn't mean to attract so much attention. Why couldn't they just mind their own business? They were getting in the way of him and his video games!

"Oh my gosh! That looks like so much fun! Can I try it?" Sakura exclaimed. She'd been watching his lightning fast finger movements for a while now and the figure on the tiny screen seemed to respond to it. She'd now realized it was not a communications device; it was some sort of game!

Matt was beyond furious at this remark. How dare she ask to play his game?! Did she understand what would happen if she lost one of his lives? Ruined his time?! Sent him back to the first level?! This matter was far too serious to be ignored; so much so that he actually paused his game and looked up at her with a serious look, which she should be extremely honored for seeing how he actually exited his game world to enlighten this brat of the severity of her comment

He'd finally been given the chance to fully take her in, and he was quite shocked at what he saw; so much so that his serious, slightly angry look shifted to a more analytical and 'what the heck are you?' look. He now found her scent befitting, but was now left with a couple questions. Where was she from? How old was she? Who was she?

Now, Matt normally did not take any interest in people outside of his gaming world, but this was a special case, and instead of angry remarks because of her earlier comment, the ones that escaped him were, dare he say it, mindless and not thought through. It left his lips before he'd even registered what he was saying, and soon his dry, rough voice-having been unused for so long-reached the two children's ears

"Cherry Blossoms."

Sakura registered the crack in his voice, signifying that he hadn't stopped to drink any water or use his voice for a long time now. He must've really been into the game to have been playing so long non-stop.

She flashed him a smile

"Yup! That's my name! It's Sakura! My mom named me that because my hair is pink and my eyes are green, get it? What's your name?" Sakura asked

He hadn't muttered that expecting a reply; it was his mistake. He didn't want to enter into a conversation, but he felt it his duty to say something, so with great effort, he dared use his voice once again

"Matt." Was his curt reply, his fingers itching to feel the warmth of the gameboy, having been heated by his own hands along with the battery. He wasn't sure what to do in the real world, it was so boring and he needed his escape.

His eyes wandered to the branches of the tree above him as he tried to figure out how to kill the monsters in front of him once he'd unpause the game. He'd have to jump to dodge their bites, and he'd be able to jump on top of them to kill them. Using the momentum of the jump to get higher, he'd surely be able to make it atop the brick floor above him! And then-

SHIVER

His head snapped at the girl as he felt his gloved hand being held in the girl's (Sakura, was it?) own two. The foreign, cool touch felt through the cloth of his gloves had sent shivers down his spine; it felt good in the heat of the weather. It was then that he became more aware of the sweatiness of his palms. He began to worry slightly if she'd be appalled by it (Not that he cared; he _wanted_ her to leave!)

"You've been playing for too long, you should go eat something, aren't you hungry? Thirsty? You know you need to have at least three meals and eight cups of water a day. I brought my lunch with me, we can share if you'd like, though I don't really know what robots eat…" Sakura trailed off, staring at her friends' hand. It was overheated, like how the microwave or the TV felt when you'd been using it for too long.

Feeling uncomfortable at the attention dealt to his hand, he made no hesitation in removing it from her grasp

He gave her an indignant look and snappily replied

"Well? Where's the food?"

* * *

A dark haired girl with a side ponytail squeezed through the crowds of hoarding fans. Once up front, her deep brown eyes searched left and right for a certain someone. Where was this person?

Her search was cut short when-

"Hey, Mitsuki, what are you doing here? You're not looking for Matt are you?" Asked an arrogant voice

Mitsuki glared

"Shizuki…a pleasure as always, have you seen Sakura? She said she was coming here but seeing how she's new here, I know it'd be hard to get around this school. I got worried and wanted to make sure she got here…" Mitsuki said

"Che, you're such a liar! I know you came here to see Matt, but you're out of luck; he's not here. And of course I haven't seen that forehead girl, I hope she got lost, that'd teach her not to try and steal our hottest guys from us. Seriously, does she really think they'll accept her just like that? Tell her to stop bothering them!" Shizuki replied, irritated to hear that Sakura was targeting yet another of the orphanages top schools

"It was a simple yes or no question; you didn't have to go on your little rant. You talk too much." Mitsuki said before running off, hearing Shizuki's caterwaul fading

'_If not in the basketball court, then where?' _were Mitsuki's thoughts

* * *

"So go~od!" Came a blissful voice

"No way! Robots eat human food?" Sakura thought aloud with a smile, happy she could help

Matt then continued to stuff his face with the meal, stopping every now and then to guzzle down the sweet, caramel colored liquid; apple juice.

He shoved a rice ball into his mouth, already having an excess amount of food in his mouth. Biting off more than he could chew, he accidentally let food slip down his throat without properly swallowing it. A cough, followed by his gloved hand banging on his chest; he was choking. This caused concern in the pink haired girl and she grabbed the juice and offered it to him, worry evident in her eyes. He took no time to study this, as he snatched the cup from the girl and greedily swallowed the liquid. Immediately afterwards, he continued his attack on the food, shrugging off the fact that he had just choked

'_It's like he'd never eaten a day in his life…'_ Sakura thought, a sweatdrop at the back of her head

'_**Shannaro! How dare he snatch my juicy cup from me like that?! I'll kick you!' **_Came Inner Sakura's voice as she air punched the empty space of her imaginary world

Sakura nibbled on her own rice ball as she stared in awe at the robot boy's comical eating style. Her eyes then wandered to the boys' game machine lying beside him in the grass

"You know, I heard that there was going to be this amazing game in the 'basketball court' today. They say it's the most fun you'll ever have! I was going to go there today, but with this whole getting lost incident, I didn't get the chance. But, if you know the way, we can both go together! How's about it?" Sakura asked cheerfully

Matt eyes fell upon the girl as he wiped the excess food off his mouth with his sleeve, his gaze calculating and mistrusting

'Who does she expect to fool with that? She has to know that I'm the one they were talking about. I bet she expects me to think that she gave me food out of the kindness of her heart, so that I'd let her play my game. Something like-OMG! No way! That's me! You didn't even know it was me and you were still this nice?! You're so cool! An angel! An angel!-Che, I'll show her. I hate girls who try to feign the whole 'I'm so sweet and forgiving' act.'

He smirked

"Ah, seriously?! Thanks Sakura! I'll go to the basketball court right now and borrow that game so that we both can play it together!" Matt said with fake excitement

'Now what'll you do? You know it's me and that I'm lying to you, but you can't say anything about it because it'd blow your goody-goody act.'

"Really?! Alright! Let's go together!" Sakura said

'Ah. So she's going to keep going with this, huh?'

"No, no. You stay here; I'll go get the game, bring it back here, and then we'll play together."

"Why can't I come with you?"

"Because you gave me some of your lunch, so I have to repay you. You must be tired from running around all day, so you just sit here and rest, okay?" Matt said

"No, you don't have to repay me, you seemed really hungry!"

'Oh, touché. You got me there with another of your goody goody lines.'

"Please? I'd feel awfully bad if I couldn't repay you in some way…"

'Now she'll be forced to say yes, if she wants to keep the whole goody-goody act going' Matt thought

"Oh, yeah! I've felt that way before too! Okay! I'll wait right here until you return!" Sakura said, grinning earnestly.

Matt got up, dusted himself off and began to walk away, his back to the girl as he said

"Good. I promise I'll be back, so just stay put."

"Alright! I'll wait right here, it's promise!" Sakura said, a gentle smile on her face

Matt looked back with a lazy expression, his Nintendo in his hand. He smirked triumphantly.

'Ditching fan girl mission: complete.' He thought as he began to walk away. He resisted the urge to laugh as he imagined her angry face behind him. Surely she was enraged that her plot had gone down the drain.

* * *

Everyone knew that Mello didn't give any justice to his name. He was anything but mellow.

Today, however, he seemed a little more than "not mellow"

'Dammit!! Today's not going well at all!!!' Mello thought as he leaned against the wall beside a door, and a certain someone else

**FLASHBACK**

**Mello was walking**

**Or at least, that's what he mentally told himself**

**His body screamed otherwise**

**PANT PANT**

**PITTER PATTER**

"**Where are you running to Mello?" Asked a boy who seemed to know him. Mello was bad at remembering names, or rather, he was very good at forgetting them**

**Nonetheless, he had realized that it was very easy to carry on a conversation with someone without actually knowing their name, after all, there weren't very many opportunities to call a person by their name in an everyday conversation**

"**I'M NOT RUNNING!" Mello bit back as he skidded to a halt to catch his breath**

**The poor, nameless boy took a step back, smiling nervously**

"**okay, okay, you weren't running."**

"**Che, you got that right! Now, have you seen a pink haired girl around here?" Mello said, fighting back the urge to blush at the thought of what he was plotting**

**What Mello HAD been planning, ever since he was staring at the clock in his classroom, eagerly awaiting for the lunch bell to ring so that he'd be able to ask his pink haired girlfrie-err-acquaintance to accompany him on a sooo-not-a-lunch-date**

"**Sakura? She should be in class. She said she was going to 'strengthen her bonds of love and friendship' with her classmates or whatever." **

**Mello coughed**

"**Yes, well, she owes me a chocolate bar so I have to go and claim it."**

"**I didn't ask."**

"**Yeah? Well I'M telling you!"**

"**Whatever you say" **

**And with that, both boys parted ways**

**Mello couldn't help the smile that crept its way onto his face. It was a feeling of great anticipation. He just knew everything was going to go great. Something like **

"_**Nyaaa, nyaaa, Mello, dear, open you mouth and say 'aaah' so that you can eat my homemade chocolates that I spent AAAALL night to make JUST for you!!"**_

**Mello raced into the building, down the hall, a flight of stairs, a couple twists and more running-err-walking**

"_**Che, I don't know if your second rate cooking skills are gonna be great enough for the awesome me, but I'll give you a break. Be thankful I'm allowing you to hand feed me your unworthy chocolates." Mello would reply, snugly of course and really cool-like**_

"_**Kyaaan!! I'm so happy you'll eat them! Please marry me when I grow up Mello! You're so dcool and so much more fashionable than that big-headed Near!!" **_

_**Mello would chuckle**_

"_**Say 'aaaah' my Mello dear!"**_

**Mello turned the corner and finally reached her classroom door with closed eyes, still daydreaming**

"**Aaaaaah~!" Mello said, letting his fantasies mix with reality**

"**If you open your mouth that wide, flies will get in." A certain white haired boy said, sitting on the floor in his usual stance on one side of the frame of the door, twirling a strand of his hair of course**

**Mello snapped his eyes open and immediately shut his mouth. His expression turned into that of a glare **

"**Damn you, you big-headed Near!!!" Mello said, pointing an accusing finger at him**

"**What the hell are you doing here?!" Said the blonde**

"**Me? Oh, I found an interesting new puzzle to solve, that's all."**

"**Puzzle? Dammit, you're talking about Sakura, aren't you?! I hate how you always treat everything like it's a game or something! Sakura's not your new toy!"**

"**Sakura? Who said anything about Sakura? But seeing how you have her name on your mind, I'm guessing she's the reason for your visit to this particular classroom? Nonetheless, you are correct, she IS the reason for MY visit."**

**Mello blushed**

"**I'm not here for Sakura! I'm here for my chocolate! She ate it so now she needs to buy me a new one!" He replied indignantly**

"**I'm not persecuting you, you're free to wait with me, she's not in class right now but she's bound to come back." Near stated calmly**

"**As if I'd want to wait next to you!"**

**END FLASHBACK**

So here Mello was, waiting by her classroom door

Next to Near

"I'm only doing this for the chocolate!" Mello exclaimed

"I wonder when my puzzle will arrive?" Near thought aloud

"Hey! Don't ignore me!"

Yes, this was going to be a long day for Mello

* * *

"I heard Mello and Near were waiting for Sakura!"

"Now way! Seriously?!" Came the gossip of a couple girls

They were loud

Almost as though they wanted her to hear them

Didn't they know a tragedy could occur? Didn't they know she had snapped and gone completely out of her mind after she had seen Sakura and L sleeping together in the infirmary?

'Sakura, Sakura, always Sakura.'

A deep sadness pained her hear, but an even deeper hatred controlled her. It couldn't be helped. The raging envy wouldn't allow her to let this go. To let Sakura go. Not unpunished, at least. She HAD to be punished. She'd go insane if she didn't.

'Why. Why. WHY. WHY?!! Why is it ALWAYS her?!'

* * *

It seemed Watari simply couldn't sit down to take a sip of tea these days. That record was broken today as he sat down on his giant chair in his office, a cup of jasmine tea in his hands. The sun seemed to bless him specifically, as it seemed to shine specifically in his direction through the window. It was quiet, quiet enough to hear the birds chirping, the trees swaying, the leaves rustling and an ever-nearing stomping

"Stomping?" Watari thought aloud after he stopped sipping his tea

SLAM

"GIVE ME THOSE PANTIES!"

Watari jumped, startled and spilled his tea on himself

His very hot tea

"Going so far for these panties, aren't you a pervert?" L replied, running around in circles around Watari's desk, panties in hand and BB at toe

"I'm not a pervert! You're a pervert!"

"A pervert shall remain such as long as he is a pervert, so regardless of what you and I say, the fact will remain, that you are a pervert."

"I'M NOT A PERVER! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" BB said, grabbing a pen to stab L

Watari glanced out the window at the darkening clouds that signaled the upcoming rain, wondering why L was waving around panties and why BB wanted them as well. Why he was cursed with such a life. Why he had ever thought he could bear living in a house with tiny geniuses, but above all, why he hadn't committed suicide

Anime tears were pouring down his face by this time

* * *

The school bell rang to signal the end of lunch and all the children scampered to class, some slightly wet as it had begun to drizzle outside

Mello was pissed. Near was playing with his action figures.

"Where is she?!" He asked no one in particular

Near answered anyway

"The teacher said she was here today, maybe she skipped the afternoon classes?"

Mello got more pissed

"Dammit! I hate it when you don't give the people you're talking to eye-contact! You make it look like you think your action figures are more interesting!" Mello exclaimed

"I don't try to make it "look" like anything. It is what it seems to be. Looking at your face won't change the fact that you're scowling."

PUNCH

THUMP

Near was sprawled on the floor after being dealt a blow to the face. He stared at the ceiling with his unchanging face and pondered

"It changes EVERYTHING!" Mello exclaimed as the children inside the classroom began to murmur and look towards the source of the ruckus just outside their classroom door.

Near sat up and grabbed his action figure again, inspecting it for damage

Mello glared at him

"Always remaining calm like that, I knew I wouldn't be able to stand being next to you!"

Near looked up

"Don't get me wrong, I'm utterly pissed that you have assaulted me, but I can understand that patience has never been your greatest attribute. However, I do not believe that releasing your rage upon me would change the fact that Sakura did not come back to the classroom during or after lunch which, for whatever reason, did not suit your interests." He deadpanned

"For whatever reason? It's to get my chocolate bar back!"

"That possibility doesn't quite fit, for one, Watari supplies the children with all their needs, so asking someone for a supply that you have plenty of is illogical. Perhaps you wanted to spend quality time with Sakura? Yes, yes, that seems to be a much better fit."

Mello's lower-eye-lid twitched as he launched himself at Near. He fought back this time, and soon the were both rolling around on the floor

The children cheered, of course, as they usually did when something of interest occurred

It wouldn't be long until they'd be pulled apart by the teacher and sent to Watari's office

* * *

It was the end of the day. The children had been sent to their dorms and the moon now shun brightly in the skies

Why, oh why was it, then, that Watari himself couldn't take a break and go to his OWN bedroom for a book, or a cup of tea?

The answer came in four, and they stood in front of his desk, in his office, all beat up a bruised.

They were none other than L, B, M, and N.

Watari sighed partly in exhaustion, and partly in exasperation

"Mello, Near, you're ALWAYS being pulled into my office for fighting. Can't the two of you just get along?"

"Everything's fine with me." Near stated

"Well, everything's NOT fine with me! I hate Near! I'll never get along with him!"

Watari sighed

"What about you two?" He said as he turned his attention to L and BB

L was staring intently at Mello and Near, which obviously made Mello uncomfortable, but Near's expression remained the same as he played with his toys. If he felt uncomfortable, he didn't show it.

Not a word came from them, aside from a "Che." From BB as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked away smugly

Surprisingly, Near was the one to break the silence

"Has Sakura arrived back today? She didn't come back to class after lunch today." He said nonchalantly, still staring at his action figures as he flew them around in the air

This peaked BB's interest as his eyes widened and he snapped his head to look at Near

"What?! Sakura's a goody-goody! She wouldn't skip class!" BB exclaimed

"That's what I think too!" Mello stated

"Unless she saw a squirrel pass by." L added

Everyone stiffened

"Well, it is a likely chance." Near added

"Regardless, I'll make an announcement through the PA system to see what turns up. Let's pray she's not outside chasing squirrels, it's raining pretty hard tonight, after all." Watari stated as he looked out the window just in time to see a bright flash of lightning

* * *

Mello and BB were searching the school grounds, Near was nowhere to be found, and L, well, L had escaped Watari's sight as well

Now where was our owl eyed friend, you may ask?

Staring at the door of bedroom of our dear Matt. After asking around, he'd found out that just before Sakura had left the classroom, she'd fallen out of her chair and made quite a spectacle. Apparently, the conversation of a couple girls had piqued her interest. What were they talking about, you may ask? Why, of our dear Matt of course!

L bit his thumb and smiled, staring owlishly at the door in front of him, as though waiting for it to magically open on its own

And low and behold, it did just that

A certain red-headed boy with goggles and gloves open the door, apparently about to take a midnight stroll of some kind, but once setting his sights on the ghostly child smiling oddly at the door, well, let's just say, he was taken a tad bit off guard

"GAAAAAH!!" He yelled as he fell back on his bottom with an "Oof!"

"Hello Matt, I'd like to ask you a few questions."

Matt closed his gaping mouth and recomposed himself

"It's about that pink-haired girl, isn't it? I heard over the PA system."

"Did you now? Please, do go on…"

* * *

L was sitting in his usual position-knees to the chest, thumb in mouth-as he listened to Matt finish up his story. L had invited himself in.

"-so I was finally able to get rid of her that way. And that was the last time I saw her, I swear!" Matt defended

"I was actually about to go check the garden to see if she was still there, but now that I think about it, you'd have to be pretty stupid to be out there in this rain, huh?"

L felt the need to smile at this

"Yes, pretty stupid."

And with that, L got up and bid farewell, not before a word of "thank you", of course

Where was he headed, you may ask?

The garden, of course.

* * *

'c-c-c-c-c-c-COOOOOOLD!!! I'm sooo cooold! It's soo cooold!!' were about the only thoughts Sakura managed to register in her mind

It was raining, there were scary lightning bolts tearing through the sky, and she was hungry. Did she mention the mud? The cold, damp, icky feeling mud? The wind only served to chill the water that came down on her in torrents. AND, she was a little bit afraid of the dark. Just a little bit.

'What if there are monsters out there and they come and eat me?! Mr.-Robot-Matt-Boy, please come back quickly!!' Sakura thought, with anime tears streaming down her face

"WAAAAAAAH!!" She cried childishly

* * *

It didn't take long for L to find Sakura, she was the loudest thing in the garden. He didn't make his presence known, though, preferring to stand behind a tree to observe her.

'Yeah, pretty stupid.' L thought. As far as he could tell, Sakura must've believed what Matt had told her and waited all this time, and was now in the process of having an emotional breakdown. He had to wonder, though, just how far she'd go to keep her promise. He'd always been rather suspicious of her goody-goody attitude. This would be a marvelous opportunity to put it to the test. A person with selfish intentions, be it as a fan girl trying to impress Matt, or a member of Wammy's trying to undermine the other students by easing them into a false sense of security, wouldn't go so far as to damage their personal health and well-being when nothing was to be gained from it. After all, what would be the point of waiting for someone common sense told you wouldn't arrive? He'd see if she'd truly wait until Matt himself came to get her

Until then, all there was to do was wait.

'Of course, I'm not waiting out her, it's utterly cold!'

And with that thought, he scurried off to return to the building. Of course, this meant he couldn't tell the others he'd found her location

His test had begun,

Recorded time: 8:00 pm

L's guess of how long she'd stay waiting: 9:13, maybe 9:30 if the rain lightened up

* * *

The rain didn't let up.

Matt was panicking. It was getting close to midnight, and the twerp still hadn't shown up. He was sitting in his chair, in his dorm

Not playing his video games

He twiddled his fingers nervously as he looked at the clock once more

"Fifteen minutes till midnight." He muttered to himself

He took a glance at the windows

It was completely covered with a thick layer of flowing water. The sound of the water pecking, almost stabbing at the window, as though the rain was hell-bent on piercing through the glass to get him

Was it at all possible that any human being would even consider going out, much less wait in the rain?

However small the possibility, it was still in fact possible that she was out there Why then, would he not go out to check, to rid him of his fears?

'It's cold and I don't feel like getting wet over such a small possibility.'

An excuse

'She's not there.

Denial

'I won't go!'

Cowardice

Matt sighed. If he did go out and check, and she was still outside, he'd surely be in trouble. What would he say? What COULD he say? Watari had announced her disappearance a while ago, he should've reported where he'd last seen her, but now it was too late

'I told that other boy! He's just as guilty as I am!'

For some reason, it always felt better to know you weren't the only one. Not the only one who flunked a test, not the only one that skipped class, not the only one who forgot about a pop quiz

There was always that one excuse

'He did it too!'

It didn't seem fair to Matt that he might get scolded for something he wasn't really responsible for

He hadn't forced her to stay there-not saying she really is there, just hypothetically

…

…

"AAARGH!!!" Mello thought, as he shuffled his hair with his gloved hands

With that, he stood up and bolted to the door

* * *

He was panting, running down the hall

It wasn't like she was actually there; it was just a chance, a small chance

"_**You've been playing for too long, you should go eat something, aren't you hungry?"**_

You'd have to be pretty stupid to stay out there in that rain

"_**You know, I heard that there was going to be this amazing game in the 'basketball court' today…We can both go together!" **_

He was outside now, the garden looked so much more different at night, creepy almost

He noticed the ground was made slippery by the water, and his feet sunk through the slop that was once solid

'Where? Where?!' He thought, almost in desperation, searching behind every tree

If he'd been thinking clearly, he might've remembered where he'd left her earlier that day

You couldn't find something that wasn't there, Matt knew that, and he also knew there was a large possibility of her not being in the garden anymore. He also knew that it was in his best interest if she was in fact, _not_ there. He'd get scolded if anyone found out.

Then, why was he so desperate to find her?

'I…I want to _see_ her! And if she's not here, then I don't know where else to look! She'd be…gone. Maybe a runaway? No, she can't run away, she just can't!'

Matt thought

With that, he rounded another tree and found a small form, knees to their chest, face buried in their knees in a futile attempt at preserving warmth

This 'thing' had pink hair

Matt walked over to stand in front of her

'Why?'

The pink haired girl looked up

'Why wait? Why did she wait her, alone in the cold, wet, muddy darkness for so long?'

"_**Alright! I'll wait right here**_…"

Her face turned to one of concern

"Why are you crying?" Sakura asked

"..._** it's promise!"**_

SNIFFLE, SNIFFLE

"What're you talking about? I'm not crying! It's the rain! The rain!" Matt said as he wiped his runny nose with his sleeve

Sakura stood and gave him a broad smile

"That's good, now lets go inside, you'll catch a cold!" She said as she grabbed his gloved hand

He withdrew his hand from hers immediately, reflexively

Her hand was ice cold, stabbing to the touch

"Ah, sorry! Sorry! My hand's cold, right?" Sakura apologized

Matt was silent for a while

Then he grabbed her hand with his and pulled her towards where he knew the building door was

"Silly girl, robots don't get cold…"

Sakura smiled

* * *

They were in his dorm, towels in hand, drying off their hair first

The fact that this was the first time he'd let someone in his room made him uncomfortable

The owl-eyed boy didn't count, he forced himself in

The fact that this person was a girl made it even more uncomfortable

The fact that Sakura was blushing cutely didn't help matters either

He was standing a couple steps across from her and she was sitting down

On his bed

He gulped

He sat beside her. On the bed.

Sakura turned to look at him. Was it just him, or were her eyes slightly glazed over?

Matt avoided eye contact and decided to remove as much wet clothes as decency would allow him to.

He headed for the boots, then took off the gloves and the goggles

A gasp of surprise stopped him from removing his shirt

"I'm not thinking about anything weird! I'm just cold!" Matt said as he turned to Sakura, his face flushed a deep red

Sakura was pointing an accusing finger at him with a shocked look

"You're not a robot! You're a real boy!" She stated, as though she'd just discovered the theory of relativity

Had he heard that phrase from somewhere before?

"_**I'm not a puppet, I'm a real boy!"**_

Yeah, that was Pinocchio's phrase

He shook his head to remove his off track thoughts and replied to Sakura

"Yeah, I'm not a robot. I'm a real boy." He confirmed, immediately regretting stating that last phrase. He felt sick to his stomach for portraying that creepy wooden puppet thing

"Oh I see, you're a real boy!" Sakura stated with half-lidded eyes

Was it just him or was she inching closer?

"A real…"

Yes, she was definitely inching closer. And she had a lustful look in her eyes too!

'Could this be a…kiss?!' Matt blushed and began to stutter incoherently

"…boy." Sakura thought as she closed her eyes

Matt sweated as he suddenly thought Sakura's lips were the most interesting thing in the world

'First…'

Matt sacrificed his vision as he closed his eyes, the way he'd seen people do in movies

He leaned in, and puckered up

'..kiss'

Then she head-butted him

With her forehead

On his lip

"OUUUCH!!" Matt screamed as he tended to his newly busted lip. He glared at the perpetrator.

"Eh?"

Sakura was lying on his bed, blush still in place, with a newly acquired bruise on her forehead

'What the hell is going on?!'

Matt thought angrily

It was then that a thought struck him

'What if…'

He reached out to feel her forehead

It was hot, much hotter than was normal

He resisted the urge to face palm himself. Of course she'd get sick if she'd been stuck I the rain all day! At this point, she could get pneumonia! Matt had no time to spare. He'd seen it in a movie. First you had to warm up the chilled body, and the fastest way to do that was with…

GULP

_Body heat_

'No, Matt! This is for the great good!' He thought as he raised a fist of determination

With that thought in mind, he proceeded to removing her clothes, with many panic attacks in-between of course

With their bodies stripped down, he changed the sheets (they were soaked since they'd gotten on it with wet clothes) flipped the bed (Sakura's poor unconscious form sat in a chair, with blankets wrapped around her for decency)

After all was god and done, Matt carried the girls to the bed, got under the covers and hugged her form

'If I thought I might be in trouble before, I'm definitely screwed now…' Matt thought

Inwardly, however, he kind of enjoyed hugging her. It brought him back into the real world, made the real world so much more interesting and, in stark contrast to her actual body temperature, she actually felt very warm to Matt. He faintly wondered why as he silently slipped to sleep

Little did Matt know, he had forgotten to save his game that day and would have to start all over again the next day

* * *

Mello and BB's abilities of interrogation weren't as great as L's. Mello was, surprisingly, actually a very shy boy. He was also extremely anti-social, as was BB. Of course,

L was also antisocial, but he was also interested in direct attacks that lead him straight to the point, which is why he had decided to creep the girls in Sakura's class out until they told L what he needed to know.

Mello would rather avoid socialization, not as extremely as Near, but he was no happy-go-lucky child who talked to every person he passed by, either.

BB's problem was that he was a tad bit too extreme with dealing with people when there was something he wanted. It often involved death threats, pointy things and a scolding from Watari.

This was why they would rather do a manual search than ask around. But when a manual search of the entire building came up with null, they decided to ask around, with extreme effort and control.

Eventually, they ended up in front of Matt's room. It was morning by now, and the merry chirping of the birds and dawn rays of orange sunshine sharply contrasted the near futures darkness

They opened the door slowly, and like Pandora's Box, all hell was let loose

* * *

**A/N: Yes, Yes, well, you can only imagine BB and Mello's reactions ^^**

**did this one twice as long, and although I hate cliff-hangers, I decided to stop here, since it's 5:00 am and I promised Kezabee from deviantart that I'd update YESTERDAY. TT sorry**

**anyways, I love you all and have been reading your reviews and it makes me so happy to know everyone likes this story so much ^^ **


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